No One Else
by WyronX22
Summary: Four years later: the Raiders have advanced from mere resistance to a full-blown empire. Gemini lurks in the dark following an unspeakable act of evil. Sadly, war may be more palpable threat than they realise, but not from petty foes like Gemini. Something has awoken; something that worries even the Eridians. Will silence fall when the Anomaly returns? [Sequel to Someone Else]
1. Eye of the Beholder

**Hello there! I don't tend to go back on my word, so when I said that the sequel to _Someone Else _was coming, I wasn't kidding you just because I took a week to upload it. I have exams coming up soon, so I was forced to divert my attention away from this and towards revision and whatnot. **

**However, before you read this I _strongly _suggest you read the prologue to the story, which is Chapter 36 of _Someone Else_ because I didn't want to mess up the numbering of _this _story.**

**With Borderlands 3 on the horizon, I suppose this has become an AU.**

**I'm only saying this because not a lot of people read it. Not that you are obligated to.**

**Anyway, it feels good to get back into this, so I hope this is good! Review if you feel compelled to, but don't feel _forced _to. It's still nice to get reviews to I have an inkling on how this story is going from the eye of the beholder, as it were.**

**See what I did there? Whatever. Here's the chapter.**

* * *

**1: Eye of the Beholder**

* * *

**USER: GAIGE_THE_MECHROMANCER**

**_ECHO unit sequencing…_**

**_Sound Unit: Active_**

**_Video Unit: Active_**

**_Audio drivers active…video drivers active…_**

**_Booting OS: ...ECH-OS X _****_calibrating…_**

**_Loading… 20% …40% …80%...Load successful. _****Modem link established.**

**_Network: Connected (ECHOnet)_**

**_Signal strength: Strong _**

**Initialising broadcast…**

* * *

_Hello, my faithful 100,000 subscribers! Wow…I never thought I'd reach that number…er, anyway, this is my double upload for the week, so I'll just go ahead and high-five myself for that one. _

_*Clapping sound*_

_I hope you guys saw that._

_So, there're celebrations going on outside. You might be able to hear it in the background. They're celebrating because they just came back from a Vault! The Vault of the Martyr on Divaloca. I think Aurora, Mordy, Zer0 and Maya just got back from it, and they said it was craaaazzy! _

_Apparently, they had to fight some giant snake monster. Nasty._

_All the loot is being sent to Karabraxis, to be dispersed amongst the Raiders, but I'm still holding out that I'll be able to snag a few items from the collection. I've been wanting a shock Norfleet, and apparently, one dropped for them. _

_… *sigh*_

_But that's not what's on my mind._

_Today is the 4-year anniversary of the Vault of the Dreamer. Turns out it's also Matt's birthday. Dunno why he never mentioned that._

_It's been a while since Matt went away. At this point, I don't know if I'll ever get to see him again. He said he would come back when the time was right, but he never gave any more information other than that. _

_He could come back in 3 days or 3 years, and there's no way I'll ever know. Not until he hauls his ass back to Sanctuary… *cute snigger*_

_Lilith told me that there's gonna be a ceremony to celebrate what Matt did back then, right next to his statue. Every time I look at that statue, I'm reminded of that guy I fell in love with. _

_Even though I can confidently say I've moved on, I still miss him. Of course I do. _

_I also know, however, that when he comes back, it means that the war is coming. That's the only reason they'd send him in. To say I'm scared is an understatement!_

_We needed him so badly during the turmoil of the Associated Constellations, but he wasn't there. I think that was our most desperate hour. But he never showed his face. If he didn't then, why would he now?_

_So I'm not even sure if I WANT him back yet. Because I wouldn't even have him for long. Either he would have to go back, or I'd be dead – or both. But hey, I'd still have him beside me, even if it's only for a moment._

_So maybe it's not the end of the world. Yet, anyway. If this war REALLY IS what they said it will be, then God help us all. _

_Until then, there might just be hope yet._

_*Doorbell ringing*_

_"Gaige! It's me! Can you answer the door?"_

_Er…just a second._

_'I'll be there in a minute!'_

_It looks like I'm gonna have to sign off early. Thank you all for actually watching me and listening to my ramblings! Bye!_

* * *

**ECHO broadcast terminated.**

**ECHOear shutting down…**

* * *

Gaige sat up from her chair in her workshop. Matt's ECHOear rattled on her metal worktop, even after she retracted her fingers from it.

The past few years had definitely given rise to her ECHO streams and uploads; she remembered her loss of subscribers from twelve to one, when she first started, and it certainly put things into perspective. Comparatively, her growth had skyrocketed, though she wasn't entirely certain why. The subject and style had mostly remained the same, although the Mechromancer had been more frequent with her broadcasts.

The Vaults were often covered in her broadcasts, which she supposed may have interested people, since the Eridians were a subject of great mystery – and mysteries intrigued people. However, Gaige was never clear on the details, since Lilith had told her she could not reveal too much, for fear that Gemini may target them somehow. The Siren always seemed to have an element of paranoia about her, which she would call prudence, though it was evidently more psychologically rooted than that.

If Matt had not given her his ECHOear, the Mechromancer probably would not have risen to the steady popularity she had. Broadcasting was more advanced on the device, as the Anomaly had claimed, which made her streams easier to watch at length. In the grand scheme of things, one-hundred thousand wasn't too much, but it was respectable and Gaige would be pleased to have even a quarter of that. Or less. Considering the population of the Medusa sector (where her viewership pertained) was roughly two-hundred billion, she wasn't a large influence on the ECHOnet, but one-hundred thousand still seemed like a lot to her.

Earlier that day, Gaige had recorded a lengthy game of Bunkers & Badasses that Tina had once again enthusiastically suggested they all play. Gaige didn't think it was particularly amazing content, but it turned out the ECHOnet had a large market for people who liked the game. It was a good game, but it just didn't seem like something people would want to watch other people playing. It's no fun watching _somebody else_ play an RPG, but, it turned out a significant portion of the ECHOnet begged to differ on that.

Gaige eventually stopped procrastinating and got up from her chair. She opened the door that led into her living room, and walked towards the door. The translucent glass displayed a dark silhouette outside the door, likely rolling on their feet – explaining the changes in height constantly – with impatience. It _had_ been a few minutes before she claimed she was about to get the door, but the knocker should've realised how understandable it was for Gaige to want to think about it before she answered.

With nagging reluctance, the Vault Hunter twisted the doorknob and pulled it open.

On the other side, it was a person slightly annoyed at the delay. However, she also knew it was Gaige, and Gaige liked to procrastinate. Though, the long wait made her want to pull out her revolver and shoot something. Like maybe the test dummy in Marcus's shop, or just a random wall.

**Aurora Lux the Fable**

_New title; new me!_

_(Still likes purple)_

Aurora rose an eyebrow.

'Do you _usually_ take that long to answer?' She enquired with a smile.

'Well, you know, I planned to wait longer, but then I realised it was you,' Gaige replied with equal cheek. Aurora sniggered, and embraced the Mechromancer with a hug. 'So, how was the Vault of the Martyr?'

'Not that bad, despite what Mordecai would tell ya,' Aurora admitted.

'I heard the Vault Monster was gigantic serpent thing.'

'Well, yes…and it had potent venom…' Aurora revealed, scrambling to prove her own conclusion. 'Bu-uh-ut, um, it wasn't particularly strong. It was also weak to incendiary damage, and had a pretty big weak spot on the sides of its head.'

'Aurelia told me how Mordecai has been rambling about the Martyr's venom ever since he got back,' the Mechromancer commented.

'Yeah, well, we're all still alive,' the Fable reminded her, not-so-fondly remembering when Mordecai was bitten by the cold-blooded Vault Monster.

The two friends immediately started laughing about the whole argument. Once they had both finished, Gaige adopted a more serious look.

'That's not what you came to me about though, is it?' The Mechromancer effortlessly figured out. The Fable caught on and became a lot more serious.

'No,' she confirmed. 'We _may_ be having festivities about the whole Vault thing, but most of that is taking place in Karabraxis. It's gonna be a little more quiet around here. So, that's why we're holding a ceremony around Matt's statue, since it's the anniversary today. Everyone would like you to come.'

'I knew that's what you were here for,' Gaige responded. 'I saw what you were all doing out my window. And my answer is: I dunno. It's been ages since I've seen Matt, so looking at that statue really hurts. The sculptor was incredible, because the likeness is perfect.'

'This is difficult for me too,' Aurora told her.

'I know, but we're not emotionally the same person.'

'This is as hard for you as it is for me,' the Fable informed her. 'I'm just better at hiding it. And wouldn't it be besmirching Matt's legacy for you _not_ to go to his ceremony to remember him?'

'I'm certain half the people there don't know who he is.'

'He has a _statue_, Gaige. I'm pretty sure everyone knows who he is.'

'I meant as in, what he was like. Many of them have heard his story, but not all of them know what it was like to be around him.'

'That's not their fault,' Aurora criticised. 'Matt was gone very quickly and he was mostly around us Vault Hunters. It's not fair to say others can't be there just because they didn't personally _know _him. They still want to pay their respects to someone who sacrificed everything to keep the Crimson Raiders safe.'

Gaige sighed.

'I know, I know. It's just…I'm worried that Matt won't ever come back. I don't trust the Enlightener, and Matt doesn't really get a choice about what happens to him. So when either of them says he's coming back, I don't know how true that actually is. And with _two_ Eridians warning us of a war – of which we don't even know if _that'll_ happen either – I don't know _what_ to think.'

'Those are perfectly justifiable concerns, Gaige. I wish I could just say that you're completely wrong on all of them, but you aren't. You just need to have faith. The Eridians want to survive this war, and they know Matt will be a powerful asset in doing so. So, logically, they _should_ want to send him back eventually.'

'Even so, you don't know _when_ that will be,' the Mechromancer pointed out.

'No, I don't. But I have faith it will be soon. And if it isn't, it is best we honour his memory, don't you think?'

'Maybe you're right,' Gaige finally accepted.

'C'mon on then,' Aurora signalling, putting a hand on her shoulder and jerking her head to her right. The Mechromancer nodded, and walked beside her. Together, both of them strolled down the streets of Sanctuary, mostly staying silent. Gaige did not seem to be in a conversational mood, unsurprisingly, but Aurora did attempt to inject some kind of chattiness within the girl. Eventually, the Fable gave up in her attempt, and just remained quiet.

'How many?' Gaige inexplicably asked, catching her friend off-guard.

'Huh?'

'How many casualties?'

Aurora fell silent, stopping dead in her tracks. She had hoped Gaige would not ask that. The Vault of the Martyr may have ended well, with the Martyr dead and all the Vault Hunters returning home, but only a few Raiders survived.

'Fifty-nine. I counted the bodies.'

'Do you ever wonder if this job is even worth it anymore?' The Mechromancer abruptly asked her, disregarding the answer to her own question. 'How do you know this isn't some fool's crusade?'

'I do, to be honest,' Aurora admitted. 'But it's about survival now. If hunting all these Vaults is meant to prepare for the war, then I'm willing to do it. If it means we live, then it's worth it.'

'And after that?' The Mechromancer persisted.

'We're greedy people, Gaige,' Aurora replied, only half-serious. 'There's infinite knowledge out there – so much mystery behind the Eridians. Who wouldn't want to learn about that?'

'At the expense of so many people?'

'Foot soldiers. Soldiers who _already _offered their lives to the Raiders. They knew – _we_ knew – what they'd got into – what we _we'd_ got into.'

'That doesn't mean we can go around depleting our workforce!' Gaige argued. 'How are we going to survive the war if we're down on our soldiers?'

'Is _this_ why you're so reluctant to participate in our raids?' Aurora demanded. 'Because you're scared that we're all gonna die?' The Mechromancer sighed, walking again towards the statue on the other side of town. Aurora pursued after her.

'All I'm saying is that Vault Hunting isn't what it used to be,' she complained, hunching her shoulders.

'You're not a _teenager_ anymore, Gaige,' the Fable reminded her. 'Grow up a little bit, alright? Vault Hunting has _always_ been the same!'

'It's _because_ I've grown up a bit that I'm seeing the world differently!' The Mechromancer reasoned. 'A lot more like Matt did…'

'Matt liked being a Vault Hunter.'

'Yeah, but he didn't like unnecessary deaths.' Aurora sighed.

'I don't want to have an argument at the ceremony,' she told her, putting a hand on her shoulder. 'Trust me – Matt would want you to keep up the gig.'

'I'm not planning on retiring,' Gaige assured her. 'I was just…wondering what it really meant to be a Vault Hunter.'

_Sounds like retiring talk to me,_ Aurora thought.

'Then let's not keep them waiting,' she suggested, to which the Mechromancer nodded. Both them resumed normal walking place, eventually arriving at the plaza steps which were now the centre of town. Sanctuary had been expanded, so the previous entrance near Scooter's – now Ellie's – Garage was only the centre of town. The whole city had doubled in scale factor size.

Matt's statue stood tall above the other buildings, which had also increased in size over the years. Matt was posed with his arm out, and streaks of lightning around his arm. The presence was imposing, but also had a sense of familiarity behind it, and welcoming safety. It reminded Gaige of what it was actually like to be around the man, but in the end, it was just a mere shadowy impression of what the Anomaly was truly like.

There were a few Vault Hunters standing around it, quietly, but there were a few noticeably missing. Gaige supposed it out of respect, since they did not know Matt in the slightest, and had only heard the rumours and legends from the average citizen.

Several Crimson Raiders stood in a circle around the statue, silenced and uniform. Whether any of them knew Matt, they could not be sure.

Despite how pleased the Mechromancer was that it was mainly only the friends of Matt were present, it was equalled by Aurora's sense of devalue in that Matt was not being properly acknowledged for what he did.

They walked down the steps, catching the attention of the Vault Hunters, whom all said nothing. Not yet, anyway. When Gaige joined them, she could feel restlessness in her delayed arrival, but none of them would dare speak up about it.

One red-haired individual finally stepped forward, separating herself from the group.

**Lilith the Siren**

_What are you staring at?_

She sighed pointedly.

'We are gathered here today for the purpose of remembrance,' the Siren addressed. '4 years ago today, the Vault Hunter known as Matt Rye the Anomaly sacrificed himself to, as unbelievable as it sounds, save the entire universe from utter collapse. This is something he chose without much thought, but it is not to be taken lightly. Leaving everything you love behind – it's not easy. Of course, Matt believed in the greater good, so he was willing to if it would ultimately mean well.

'The Anomaly led a troubled life, constantly questioning his own nature and morality. When I first met him, I'll be honest, I didn't think much of him. When he told me he could slow time, even then I was not overly impressed of him. I had him fight me – and he won. Still, though, he didn't make a massive impression on me. Anyone can get lucky, and I am _certainly_ not unbeatable. The thing is, though, a person's true nature is shown when they are put under duress. So, that's why I took the Anomaly on a mission with me to raid the Gemini Armoury.

'Needless to say, I was impressed with him. He was incredibly efficient at getting in and out. He was strategic, quick and masterful at using his powers.

'But what was perhaps most impressive about Matt Rye was his humanity. I won't lie, the Anomaly always struggled with what was good and what was right. However, he always made a decision in the end, and always returned to focus. Even when faced with the worst of humanity, Matt saw the best in them – he saw redemption. I wouldn't have in many, and I often doubted his decisions. Yet, he continuously proved me wrong.

'Some may call that a weakness; some would say it was his greatest strength. Me? I consider it a commodity. What I mean by that is that Matt saw it not as a power, rather a duty – a service he lived by. I do too.'

There was a scoff amongst the crowd. Someone, evidently, was not satisfied by her description of the Anomaly.

'You're looking at it completely wrong,' a voice criticised, stepping out amongst them. Lilith frowned in annoyance.

'Well, if you'd like to correct me, be my guest…'

The man had short blonde hair and a scar across his face. His stern expression elicited gasps amongst the remaining citizens of Sanctuary.

**Caine the Executioner **

_Swingin' ma axe_

'…Caine.' The Executioner smirked.

'I'd _love_ to,' he audaciously remarked. 'You see, what's so…_interesting_…about Matt Rye is his power.' Lilith folded her arms at him angrily. 'He had a lot of it. But it never went to his head. Somehow.' The Siren's expression lightened. 'The Anomaly never had a lust for power, resenting those who desired it greedily. He's dead because he detested James Sharp's obsession for supremacy, as it was that very thing that lead to the birth of his Chronokinesis. He wanted to put an end to that, and, at first, the option was to use the Infinite to do so.'

'What's your point?' Gaige demanded, stepping out furiously from the congregate. 'It's all well and good that you're saying such kind things about my boyfriend, but I know you still have a begrudging dislike towards him. I'm sensing a "but" at the end of your little speech.'

'You sense incorrectly. My point is that Matt had the choice of forcing peace among the galaxy, but didn't. In that moment, where he had access to the Infinite, he had godlike powers. Yet, he chose _not_ to warp reality. It's questionable how much he could've anyway but he had the entire _universe_ at his fingertips, however Matt relented from the opportunity. I don't know many others who could resist such a possibility, just for the greater good.'

'Are you done?' Another voice asked, walking to beside Gaige.

**Maya the Siren**

_Likes: Fun, violence (same thing, aren't they?)_

Caine sighed.

'No need for the aggression, ladies,' he condescendingly advised. 'I'm done.'

'Well, _thank you_ for your _riveting_ input, Caine,' Lilith sardonically praised. 'This ceremony is for us to say our piece about Matt Rye. That's why I'm not punching Caine for interrupting. Not like he's _wrong,_ either.' Gaige ignored her, and walked towards the statue. The Mechromancer put a hand on the podium, reading the plaque.

**MATT RYE**

SAVIOUR OF SANCTUARY

Maybe "Saviour of Sanctuary" was too much, but Gaige didn't care. She just wanted him back, no matter how selfish it seemed. But it had been _four_ _years. _It hardly seemed hopeful. Why would he return now? They needed him just as much as they did a few months ago. Hell, it would have been nice if he was there when the Associated Constellations _burnt._

What difference would it make?

'Idiots,' she seethed. 'It doesn't matter how great of person Matt was, or the responsibility he had with the power he acquired. What you should remember about him is that he _wasn't _perfect.'

'Certainly,' Lilith interjected. 'As I said, he frequently questioned his own morality and –'

'Shut up, Lilith,' the Mechromancer scolded, standing up and turning to address the collection of people. 'That wasn't what I meant. He was a _human,_ you shouldn't be commending his humanity. Don't remember Matt for being so incredible, because he made mistakes just as we do. It just so happened that he didn't _die_ from them. Until he went into the Infinite. Yeah, Matt did great things. But he also did terrible things. Things he regrets more than anything. So have we.'

There was a sound of absentminded chatting out in the distance. It was getting louder. Everyone searched for the source.

'Who even _is_ this nobody, anyway?' Someone, male, demanded in frustration.

'The guy who prevented Sanctuary from being destroyed,' a female answered, evidently annoyed. 'And you know, saved the _entire universe?'_

'Pff, I do that every week. From home.'

'If it weren't for him, you wouldn't have a _home_ to go to.'

'We're worshipping someone we _don't even know.'_

'It's not worship. You might as well show some respect.'

'Oh, so it's like Bossanova, right? …Right?'

'Shut up.'

The two arguers appeared around the corner, walking down the steps to approach the statue.

One was wearing a red overcoat, sort of like Aurora's coat back in the day, except it had a different design and it tapered off into strands at the bottom. There was a yellow lining underneath the coat, which exposed itself in the wind as she walked. Her waistcoat was crimson, with a neat floral pattern emblazoned across the top of it. She wore a white shirt under that, buttoned up, and a smart cravat over the collar. The woman wore a hat, bowler in design, with a red lining on the outside and black as the primary colour.

**Fiona the Artist**

_Life's a long con._

The man beside her looked wimpier in appearance, given his feeble arm and anorexic-looking metal one. He wore a business suit, with an "A" inscribed on it in metal, although it was clearly a "H" before. It was an expensive black, sleeveless jacket, and a blue striped shirt sat underneath. A somewhat out of place red tie was attached loosely to his white collar, and it swung lightly in the wind. His trousers were black and comparatively boring; they were simple but expensive, as were his black non-lace shoes.

**Rhys the Corporate**

_The most business-like Vault Hunter._

_(How would a s__uit protect you anyway?)_

Lilith and Gaige practically growled.

'Rhys! Fiona! _Why_ are you late?!' The Siren demanded.

'Oh, um, sorry!' Fiona profusely apologised. 'Rhys didn't want to come; he said he was more focussed on his "investments" than this whole ceremony thing.'

Gaige walked aggressively towards Rhys, causing him to go slightly lily-livered.

'Uh, yeah…it's not like I don't care, but Atlas's income was projected to increase by four-hundred percent if I made this deal. You see, I thought it would help the Crimson Raider investment so –'

Gaige stopped him in his tracks as he tried to walk past her. She picked him up harshly with her metal hand, holding him up in the air.

'Did you dare to compare _my boyfriend_ to _Bossanova_?!' The Mechromancer yelled wrathfully, tightening her hold on the Corporate. Rhys failed to prevent a sole bead of sweat from slipping down his face.

'Uh-um, no! Tha-that's not what I meant, you see…' Rhys stuttered, stumbling for an excuse.

'I think what he _meant _to say was –' Fiona jumped in desperately.

'No!' The Mechromancer interrupted her. 'I wanna hear his excuse for calling Matt a nobody.' Rhys had no answer, or at least couldn't provide one before Gaige shook her head and spoke again. 'Actually, don't bother. Look, I may have said that Matt was just like any of us, and I believe that – but make _no_ mistake, Matt is _not_ a "nobody". He did more in a few _months_ than you have in the past few _years, _Rhys!'

'I think we all need to _calm down,' _someone told them carefully. He walked towards them, his darkening hair moving only slightly in the wind. His turret, old and decrepit, lay attached firmly to his back.

**Axton the Commando**

_How is HE the voice of reason around here?_

Gaige sneered at his advice.

'As if _telling_ me to calm down is gonna _make_ me calm down, Axton!' She disparaged, quite rightfully. 'I'm not letting this _dickhead _slander Matt's name!'

'_You're_ slandering it by being overly aggressive! Do you honestly think this is what Matt would've wanted?!' The Commando rebounded on her. Gaige dropped Rhys to the floor, who was tended to (and slapped by) Fiona.

'Are you _kidding_ me?!' The Mechromancer bellowed, with utter rage. '_I'm_ the bad guy here? I'm knocking sense into idiots like these! I _loved_ Matt, and now I have to see people saying such unfair things about him? Seriously?'

'Were you not listening to what Lilith was talking about?' Axton argued. 'We all know he was a great man, a good one too. If people are thinking less of him than they should, then we'll talk about it. Violence here is just unnecessary.'

'That's not the point!' Gaige continued. 'You all go _on and on_ about how amazing Matt was, but the fact of the matter is that he wasn't _half_ of what you guys are saying about him. He was one of the most wonderful people I had ever met, but he was by no means as superior as you think he was! He was _real! _A real human being; not some kind of _fairy tale!_ You all need to get the right idea of him. He wasn't amazing, like _you_ think' – she then turned to Rhys, who was still on the floor – 'and he wasn't some nobody like _you_ think.'

She turned to leave the ceremony, which by now had completely dissolved.

'When he eventually _does_ come back,' the Mechromancer addressed conclusively. 'Don't be surprised if he's not as great as you think he is.'

* * *

**Ah, nice to get into this. I didn't want everyone to be all like "I miss Matt", so I had multiple people have multiple different ways of dealing with his absence, with Gaige choosing not to glorify it as though Matt was the greatest thing ever made. Because he wasn't. Some are even angry about the whole situation.**

**Hence why she didn't want to go to the ceremony. From her perspective, while Matt was great and all, she did not feel it necessarily warranted a whole fucking ceremony on him.**

**Hope you like the introduction of Rhys and Fiona into the story. You might think I did it too early, but really, I had no reason to wait. They _do _serve a purpose in a few of the plot threads in the future.**

**Also, Aurora's title name was purposefully changed to Duke Minoosh's former title. He _is_ retired now, after all.**

**Finally, I'm aware this chapter is not very long, but they will get quite long as time goes on. I've mentioned this before, however I'll repeat it: these chapters will vary from 4k all the way up to 7k words.**

**To conclude, I hope you feel inclined to stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	2. Sticks and Stones

**Here we are at chapter 2! I've been writing in my spare time, to be honest, but I'm not far ahead of this chapter, as I have not been focusing on this as much. I know not a lot of people have **_read _**this story yet, but that's fine. The views aren't my concern, I just want to share this story I have. **

**The fact that anyone is reading it is enough for me. **

**I enjoy writing this and I can't wait to bring to a head the multiple ideas and plot threads that will take place in this story. I plan on two main plot-lines, rather than the three from the previous. However, I suppose I still will, as there are subplots in between.**

**So, here it is, to anyone reading!**

* * *

**2: Sticks and Stones**

* * *

Amelia stumbled. She almost fell onto the stone floor, but something caught her. Curious, the girl looked up to see her brother, Matt, holding her arm as he stepped out of the portal. She smiled.

'Looks like I beat you,' Amelia playfully commented.

'Don't let it go to your head, kid,' Matt replied, with equal playfulness. His sister rose an eyebrow.

'"Kid"? I'm only a little younger than you!'

'Younger enough, _kid._ Or would you prefer _sis?_ Ooh, how about "the Dreamer"?'

Amelia frowned.

'Right now, "the Dreamer" is a million, million dispersed particles within the outer void, _bro.'_

She pointed out towards a purple void, seemingly expanding forever. The Vault of the Dreamer, Matt realised. The faux-Colosseum remained intact, if older, complete with dried blood on the floor. Some of it was his, some of it was others. It was impossible to tell, since so many had shed blood that day. The rocks were even more weathered and cracked, likely due to prolonged exposure to the outside world before the portal was shut. Luckily, Matt had absorbed all the unstable Infinite energy within it; the remaining (still never-ending) energy would not leak into the main dimension. Comforting, the Anomaly supposed.

'So, when are we going home?' Amelia asked excitedly, jumping up and down.

'That's assuming there _is_ a home to go to,' Matt thought aloud, leaning down and inspecting five piles of what looked like ash on the ground. 'What happened here? How come this – ash? – has collected in these specific five spots?' He turned to Amelia, but she went completely silent. He rose an eyebrow. 'Amelia? What is it? Tell me.'

'Oh, um, I-I don't remember.'

Matt scowled.

'A few minutes ago you were a multi-dimensional being with the powers of a god, if you were to be set loose upon this world in your Infinite form. I _highly_ doubt memory is a problem for you.'

Amelia still refused to tell him anything about what the Enlightener did in the Vault of the Dreamer. Matt sighed.

'_Fine.' _

He could get out of her later, but right now, it wasn't important. There were other things to do – things that were more important. Matt noticed a glint in his peripheral vision, the very corner, and turned his head to seek it out. He walked towards it. It was a silvery white glint, with some purple mixed in for good measure. It separated into multiple twinkles as he got closer, and the Anomaly could finally see what it was.

The Artefact. The one that was stored in the Vault, and appeared on a podium. It had some strange ability to discharge Infinite energy, quite volatilely, causing damage to the environment. It could be directed upon itself, adapting to the damage and becoming more powerful. Matt only managed to do this once. Parts of it glowed purple, which surprised Matt. He didn't think it would still have power.

He leant out to touch it, but he was met with an invisible forcefield.

_Well, at least I know why Lilith and the rest didn't take it from the Vault._

He wasn't sure how to get past it. However, it was likely Infinite energy, and his lightning always seemed to counteract that kind of energy – probably because it came from the end of the Infinity Spectrum. Hopefully, his Chronokinesis would cancel the forcefield out, though he hadn't seen this end of the Infinity Spectrum before.

* * *

_'The Infinity Spectrum is the range of Infinite energies as stored within in the Infinite,' _The Enlightener had explained. _'Whilst in the Infinite, these forms work harmoniously with one another. When they are not, however, they will react with one another.'_

_ 'So is that why my lightning, which is comprised of Infinite energy, can cancel out other forms of Infinite energy?'_ The Anomaly had asked, to which the Enlightener nodded.

_'Yours cancels out energies on the opposite side of the spectrum, although it is nearly impossible to detect variations within your dimension. Careful: opposites will cancel out, but ones on the same end will strengthen the target.'_

* * *

Matt charged up his Chronokinesis, wincing as the black-red lightning sparked from his fingertips. He hadn't used his powers in four earth years, since they were hardly usable in the Infinite. It was moderately relaxing to feel the energy course through him once again, except it felt more powerful this time. Quickly, but also gently, the lightning snapped across to the barrier covering the Artefact, outlining the forcefield with red, so it was no longer invisible.

His face fell to dismay as the forcefield merely got stronger, reinforcing its power.

'You need some help with that?' Amelia offered, running over to him. Matt looked up at her, perplexed.

'How?' He enquired.

'Just hold my hand and try again,' his sister told him, to which he obliged.

As the lightning began to course through him, the Anomaly could feel the power dissipating from within him and into Amelia. It moved through him with speed, causing a shudder as the transfer created a small shock. Carefully, Matt watched as the lightning escaped from Amelia's fingertips, now a yellow-gold colour. The gold lightning connected with the barrier, exposing it once more, before shattering it, prompting Matt to cease releasing his lightning. The connection broke as Amelia let go.

The Artefact was now free.

Matt turned to Amelia in utter confusion.

'How the hell did you do _that?'_ He demanded. For a moment, she hesitated, but eventually opened her mouth to speak.

'Energy conversion,' she explained, still leaving him puzzled. 'I can convert one form of Infinite energy into another. It was one of my powers as the Dreamer. I got to keep it.'

'Are there any others I should know about?'

'A few. I got powers similar to yours,' his sister clarified, moving away a stray strand of hair. Matt went to pick up the Artefact while she spoke. 'For starters, I'm not affected by –'

She was woefully interrupted as the Anomaly touched the Artefact, and it glowed a bright purple. Eventually, the light limited to just one crack, like a projector light, and a hologram was produced in the air above them.

'Is that…?' Amelia failed to finish.

It was a map of Pandora. Mostly, it was section N40C 12o 21e, Northwest Coast, but extended to include the mountain that housed the Vault of the Destroyer. Three Vault symbols appeared on the map – one at Hero's Pass, one between the Dust and Lynchwood, and finally the mountain in which the Vault of the Destroyer sat. A line formed between the three Vaults, a perfect straight line, although at an angle, but it was undoubted that they were positioned perfectly in line.

'Of course!' The Anomaly slapped his forehead at his stupidity. 'I _knew _there was something specific about the placement of the Vault of the Dreamer! They're in perfect alignment! How could I not see that? It's some sort of…um…'

'Eridian Line?' Amelia suggested, to which Matt smiled and nodded.

'Yeah, that describes it.' The Vault Hunter put a hand to his chin, and began rubbing it, staring at the ground in thought. 'But why? I mean, what's the purpose? It can't just be to look _neat._ And why store it on an Artefact, protected by a forcefield, if it was irrelevant? No, the Eridians, they _wanted_ us to find this, so –'

'Mattie, look,' his sister called. Immediately, the Anomaly froze and then looked up at the map. Three dotted lines were in the process of lengthening east from the three Vault points, at different angles that were all converging. Eventually, they combined at one point, which was signified by an Eridian symbol. The whole connection created a triangle.

'Some sort of…Rule of Alignment,' Matt commented, intrigued. 'They all converge at that Eridian…point just east of here.'

'What's the place it's pointing to?' His sister asked, raising an eyebrow. Matt shrugged his shoulders.

'Dunno. Something Eridian related, I suppose,' he responded earnestly. Matt took a deep breath, and sighed loudly. 'We should go there.'

'What?! What about our- er, I mean, _your_ home?' Amelia instantly objected.

'Sanctuary can wait,' the Anomaly told her, but she still seemed unconvinced. 'Look: whatever this place is, the Eridians have directed us to it. There's _got_ to be a reason for that, so we have to find out. If it wasn't urgent, they wouldn't have pointed us to it.'

'_Or_ it could be something else! If it was urgent, don't you think they would have told us before we left?'

'The Enlightener didn't even _want_ us to leave yet, so it definitely wasn't him who inscribed the information onto the Artefact. Likely, it was Esog, the Watcher. Although, it was probably an afterthought, something she only implemented it just before we left.'

'Are you sure about this?' His sister asked worriedly.

'No,' Matt replied honestly. 'But it's killing me not to know.'

He signalled for her to follow, and she scurried behind him as he briskly walked over to the edge of the arena. The blocks of stone rose from nowhere, conjured by Infinite energy, and formed a path for them to follow. As soon as the Anomaly took one step onto it, another appeared immediately afterwards. Just like it had been before. Eventually, they made it to the exit to the Vault, which had been closed off. Remembering the last time they were here, Matt charged his Chronokinetic lightning, and connected it with the Vault panel.

The purple Infinite energy accustomed to Vaults spread across the cracks in the stone, connecting the chunks together, opening the Vault door. It was a purple portal, not transparent, but it shone with intense brightness.

With a sharp intake of breath, Matt and Amelia walked through.

* * *

There was a large amount of force being exhibited on such a comparatively smaller surface area. There was so much that the sound of it being spread across the surface almost hurt her ears. She supposed she wouldn't have minded, since then she wouldn't have to hear the woeful lies and misconceptions that her friends displayed.

Gaige continued punching the bag. The _punching_ bag didn't get _punched_ nearly enough. Mainly, that was because the Mechromancer didn't use this makeshift training room very often, nor did she _need _to use it. It wasn't even _hers._ Right now, though, it was important if she was going to overcome her stress.

Pow, pow, pow – over and over. The rhythmic beating on the punching bag was soothing to her mind, reminding her that she could always rely on the her boxing gloves to make the same sound when collided with a punching bag.

At least there was something she could finally rely on. More so than her friends, who were more concerned with idolising and idealising Matt than being realistic.

She groaned as she threw a hard punch at the harder sand bag.

_Stupid idiots._

Honouring someone didn't mean over-venerating them as if they were perfect. To respect the dead, you should understand who they were, not make your own assumptions. That meant not just speaking ill of the dead, but also overstating them. She hated their imprudent visions of the Anomaly, because it wasn't who he was.

Given what they've been told, if or when Matt comes back, they would likely be disappointed, given how highly Lilith spoke of him. While he was worthy of praise, it wasn't _nearly_ as much as the red-haired Siren spoke of so frequently, especially given her tendency to exaggerate the details.

The door behind her make a creaking sound as the rusty hinges began to move. Gaige spun around to see who it was.

'Hey, Gaige,' the voice addressed carefully. It was Aurora. 'I thought I'd find you down here.'

"Down here" was the old hangar in the sub-levels of Sanctuary, which was no longer in use. All the ships and transports had been moved to Karabraxis, the central city of the Crimson Raiders, where it was reserved for off-world excursions. As a result, the hangar, where the Dahl jump ships once sat, was rendered redundant. Someone had to do something with it, and that person ended up being Jeffrey.

Jeffrey's aspiration to be a Vault Hunter prompted him into train, especially in the wake of Matt's passing, so he set up a training area where he could hone his skills. He used it quite often, although he seldom utilised all of the equipment he set up, so it was surprising for Gaige to find it not in use. Jeff always said the door was open for her, though, so it likely wouldn't have mattered.

Jeff and Gaige were good enough friends, she supposed, but the Mechromancer never felt driven to get to know him. She didn't care, to be perfectly honest. The Vault Hunter was more focussed on her mission to continue her ECHO personality, and her own Vault Hunting, to pay attention to him. While her Vault Hunting had gradually diminished over the years, leaving more free time, Gaige used the space to grieve and train, rather than for exchanging pleasantries.

The hangar was still large, even with the extensive equipment that filled it, so it often felt a little empty. Three punching bags hung on a bar, adjacent to each other, along with a bar usable for chin-ups. A bench-press was nearby, but Gaige never really used it. That was more Jeffrey's thing. Four treadmills were lined up, along with a more hi-tech hyper-tread placed a little further away, to accentuate its uniqueness. There were a lot of resources in access, although Gaige wasn't certain that Jeffrey used all of them.

She sighed.

'What do you want?' The Mechromancer finally asked.

'I think you already know the answer to that,' Aurora replied, which elicited only a scowl from her friend. 'Your outburst during Matt's memorial.'

'Everything's already been said,' the Mechromancer told her categorically, waving a hand at her dismissively.

'No, it hasn't,' the Fable disagreed adamantly. 'I get that you want us to have a clear view of Matt, but there's no need to _vilify_ us for our opinions!'

'Your _incorrect_ opinions!'

'What is going on, Gaige? You weren't like this before – you were calm and collected after Matt left. Why are you so…aggressive?'

'Do you really want an answer to that question?' Gaige rebounded, with a foreboding tone in her voice.

'Yes!'

'I'm tired of everyone's attempts to "remember" someone whom half of them don't even know!' The Mechromancer angrily snapped.

'So you think shouting at them is going to help?' Aurora pointed out, which provoked no verbal response from the Vault Hunter, only the sound of punches colliding with the bag harder and louder. The pause prompted Aurora to move closer, trying to get her friend to look at her face. 'Do you think this is what Matt would've wanted?'

Gaige groaned in fury, throwing a metal punch at the bag with extreme force.

Aurora winced as the Mechromancer's arms went straight through the punching bag. Gaige sighed as the sand leaked out of the bag and hit the floor.

'What does that matter? It's not as if he's actually coming back.'

The Fable gasped, almost audibly, and furiously stomped forward and slapped the Mechromancer, hard. Gaige reeled back, looking up at her in astonishment and bewilderment.

'Don't you _dare,'_ Aurora warned darkly, wagging a finger at her derisively.

'Why? It's been _four years_, Aurora!' Gaige exclaimed, frustrated. 'Why hasn't he come back yet?! How much longer? I need him _now! _We all do! Where was he during the collapse of the Associated Constellations?! What if the reason he hasn't come back yet is because he _isn't_ coming back?'

'He _is!_ Matt promised he would,' she pointed out. 'He doesn't break promises. Besides, we need _hope._ Hope is the last bastion of faith. Hold onto it.'

'_I tried,'_ the Mechromancer barked. 'But I _miss_ him, Aurora. I _love_ him. Do you understand how painful it is being separated from him so long?'

The Fable looked at her forlornly. 'Actually I do.' Gaige looked at her almost curiously. 'When Matt left Gemini, I was separated from him for a long time too. It wasn't as long as you, but it was long enough to be painful, especially since I wasn't sure if I'd see him again. You're forgetting that I loved him too. I did even then. So of course I understand where you're coming from.'

'Then why are you even here if you understand my point of view?' Gaige interrogated.

'Because your retaliation is irrational,' she answered honestly. 'It's not fair to everyone else that you take your anger out on them. It's not their fault that you're like this. And now, you've gone and ruined a ceremony to help remember someone _you_ loved. They're trying to honour a fallen comrade. Yeah, some of them never met him, but doesn't mean they're not allowed to pay their respects!'

'They did go through the trouble to come here from Karabraxis,' Gaige acknowledged fairly. 'But if they're going to honour him, I want them to get the right idea of him.'

'And that's perfectly fine,' the Fable ensured her. 'But there's no need to be so hostile about it.' She put a hand on her shoulder. 'I honestly understand where you're coming from. But violence isn't going to solve anything; it will only make the situation worse.'

Pointedly, the Mechromancer sighed in defeat.

'Perhaps you're right,' she finally accepted. 'I just…I can't help but wonder what it would be like if Matt were still with us.'

'Then think about what he would do, in your situation,' her friend suggested. Gaige nodded slightly, swiping up a cloth on a nearby table and wiping her forehead on it.

'What do I do now?'

'Fortunately, Lilith has a mission for you,' Aurora told her. Gaige rose an eyebrow. 'Something to do with the Friendship Gulag.'

'We cleared that place out years ago!'

'Yeah, well, clearly Gemini has reversed that.'

The Gulag seemed like old news now. However, times had changed and Gemini was determined to control Pandora. Their resistance was minimal, but large enough to concern the Raiders. They weren't to be underestimated or devalued, and Lilith could name off more losses to them they'd had over the past few years than she would like to admit. Though, it wasn't like Helios was around to provide moonshots for the Gemini loaders.

Gaige just _couldn't_ _wait_ to find out what Lilith had on offer for her.

* * *

Matt inspected the scene. The old Gemini outpost was that in only name. Looking at it now, he found it hard to tell what it even was. All the campsites and tents had either been moved, out of necessity, or had been left there to wither. The ground had aged noticeably, the colour having drained from it. Now, it was a drab grey pigment with no noticeable liveliness to it.

Extensively, the metal barracks had orange-tinged rust smeared over it, which had spread to the doors. No doubt, that door would be nearly impossible to open. Of course, then there was a pungent odour of dusty filth being emitted by one of the cells, unfortunately escaping through the bars. The flags on top flapped in the wind, the rips in the seams deepened by the blows.

Amelia harrumphed about the state of the place, as she hoped Pandora would've looked nicer. However, she seldom displayed dramatic discontent, probably because this was her first time outside of the Vault in a few years.

'Helios,' the Anomaly noticed, staring at Elpis.

'What's "Helios"?' His sister wondered.

'A Hyperion space station that orbits the moon over there.'

'Huh. I don't see one.'

'Exactly,' Matt agreed simply. 'I guess Hyperion moved it? That would cost money though, which wouldn't be worth it when the alternative would be to leave it. I guess someone kicked it out of the sky. _Finally.'_

'Was it _that_ bad?' His sister inquired in surprise of his bitterness.

'We're talking about the same corporation which experimented on me for _months. _Yes, they _were_ that bad.'

Amelia wasn't sure what to say to that, so Matt instead changed the subject.

'Now, where did it say it was exactly?' He asked, to which Amelia handed him the Artefact. Observing the map once more, he nodded and continued straight ahead.

* * *

Gaige bounded up the stairs, ineffectively masking her frustration as of late.

Sanctuary HQ had more than tripled in size, encompassing most of the street, now that most of Sanctuary's residents had moved to their residential city, Chrysanthia, located in what used to be Sawtooth Cauldron. The central area of HQ, where Lilith congregated in front of the scanner to convey missions to her associates, was still the same room, but a few extra floors were added for a variety of uses.

Tannis was no longer stationed in the ground floor of the HQ, as a scientific office had been built for her on the other side of town. Mordecai favoured it, since it meant he wouldn't have to endure her constant wittering about each of the Vault Hunters' various idiosyncrasies, which she found moderately to exceedingly annoying. Also, she liked to complain how much quicker a pace they were at when Matt was around. Gaige always despised that side of Sanctuary's resident scientist.

HQ had been refurbished last year, so now it didn't look so run-down – especially after Plan B was initiated. The walls had a different coating of paint, a bluer tinge this time, and Gaige could distinctly remember the smell of new paint that covered the area for a few weeks. The door that had previously been ripped off during Sanctuary's phasing had been fixed, along with a new room.

Roland's armoury had been replaced with an elevator system to distinguish the new floors. Handy, the Mechromancer had thought, though she seldom required it. Although, she needed it today, since the elevator was also connected to the old hangar.

'OK, Lilith, what did you need me for?' Gaige inquired, walking annoyedly into the central hub. Lilith was standing into the middle, leaning against the scanner, staring at the schematics of the Friendship Gulag. She turned her head to look at her comrade. Fiona stood on the other side of the hologram hub, arms crossed, analysing every detail of the Gulag.

'Gemini's secured a base in the ruins of the Friendship Gulag,' the Siren explained, straightening her posture as the Mechromancer walked into the room. 'They've since renamed it to "the Gemini Menagerie", since they seem to view their prisoners as animals which belong in a zoo. Freudian, I know, but whatever.'

'Why can't we just do a full frontal assault?' Gaige asked, almost complaining.

'Because we don't know what kind of technology they're holding in there,' Fiona interjected. 'Gemini knows of the influence we hold over the planet, so I _highly_ doubt they don't have countermeasures against it.' Lilith nodded and continued for her.

'We're already aware of an anti-missile Predator Shield they have running, so no bombing the place either.'

'What if I can shut it down?' The Mechromancer suggested.

'We don't _plan_ on blowing it up anyway. If we can, we'll appropriate the resources for ourselves to augment the strength of the Raiders. It's strategic.'

Gaige sighed. She was right. There was no point blowing up a perfectly good base if the Crimson Raiders could use it. She just wanted some action in her life after she had spent the past few months foolishly ignoring and avoiding all chances to go on some kind of mission or excursion to another planet – she even evaded the offer to visit the beautiful planet of Castor.

But Lilith needed her help, and the Siren would not have assigned her this mission if she did not believe she was up to it.

'So what are you asking me to do, boss?' The Vault Hunter enquired.

'Simple reconnaissance and report. Nothing more. You see anything bad, and you notify me immediately. Do _not_ engage.'

'Got it,' Gaige accepted, nodding agreeably.

'You'll be taking Fiona with you. Both of you will scout the area. I suggest you take a C-Digistructor from Matt's personal vault.'

'Are you sure we should be taking stuff from the Anomaly's vault?' Fiona inquired worriedly. Lilith nodded.

'I don't think he'd have a problem with it.'

'Besides,' Gaige added, 'we'll put it back.' However, the Mechromancer could not shake the feeling of uncertainty about taking stuff from a guy who, for all intents and purposes, was dead. It was necessary though, and Matt would see that if he were here. It did feel a _little_ wrong, nonetheless.

'And Gaige?' Lilith called. She turned towards her confusedly.

'Yeah?'

'About the ceremony this morning –'

'Don't bother,' the Mechromancer stopped her. 'Aurora already talked to me about it. But I'm not listening to anything you say about it until you stop glorifying Matt.'

Gaige left the room hastily, with Fiona hurrying after her. They walked down the stairs together.

'We haven't gone on a mission in a while, Gaige!' Fiona excitedly commented. She wasn't usually so passionate, but Gaige assumed she was just trying to make up for the ceremony fiasco. 'It's gonna be cool. You know, us girls have to stick together.'

'It's all the same to me, to be honest with you,' the Mechromancer deadpanned, much to her friend's dismay. 'But yeah: I guess it will be a little cool.' The comment was enough to elicit a good-natured smile from the Artist.

Casually, they stepped into the elevator where Roland's Armoury used to be. Once they were both in, Gaige leant forward and pressed the button with a "3" inscribed on it. It lit up white and the doors closed.

'Argh, the Dust is _so_ boring,' Fiona absentmindedly commented. 'I hate deserts. And it's _really_ hot. Plus, the Spiderants aren't too friendly – they're just annoying.'

'I thought you grew up on Pandora,' Gaige quizzically replied. 'Aren't you used to it by now?'

'True, I did, but I didn't spend, well, _any_ of my time on the land terrain or visit any of the various biomes. So I've _heard_ of the Dead Sands, but I've never actually _been_ there.'

'Well, _believe_ me,' – Gaige began to picture the explosion of the Friendship Gulag three and a half years ago – 'it's _anything_ but boring.'

There was a concordant ding about the elevator as it reached its terminating floor: Floor 3 – the storage level. The doors shuttered open and the two stepped out in near unison.

They moved past various vault doors; one with "AXTON" on it, another with "BRICK" emblazoned across it, and one with "GAIGE" over it. They knew they had passed it already when they saw Mordecai's. Gaige spotted this and stepped back to look again, finding it rather swiftly.

_Good thing these are in alphabetical order,_ the Mechromancer thought happily.

Fiona opened the vault, and as they stepped inside, the overhead switched on. It glowed an aging yellow, and flickered every so often, but they would manage fairly easily. It wasn't exactly the end of the world just because a light was a bit faulty.

'Found them!' Gaige announced, showing the Artist two small round black devices. 'Matt always had two, luckily. So we don't have to ask for one from Aurora.' She handed her one.

'How does it work?' Fiona asked.

_If you press that button, and then flick that switch, you can take on the appearance of the form latest used. _

Gaige relayed that to her, surprised she could remember what Matt had told her when she was first introduced into it.

'Don't use it yet, though,' the Mechromancer advised. 'You don't want to waste the battery. Trust me: you're not gonna want to let it get down to half capacity.'

'It's _already_ at half,' Fiona responded disgruntledly, as she examined the green power bar on the side.

'Even more reason to keep an eye on the battery, then,' the Mechromancer concluded. Both of them stepped out and walked back towards the elevator.

Eventually, Gaige and Fiona found themselves outside of Sanctuary HQ, walking towards the central building. The spire stood tall in front of them, the words of Sanctuary glowing blue vertically down it. Sanctuary's refurbishment and renovation had definitely gave the originally rather claustrophobic town more room to breathe. And for them to breathe. Though, the streets in the original section were still rather narrow.

'Have you ever been to the Friendship Gulag before?' The Artist asked. Gaige remained silent and did not answer. Fiona assumed she hadn't heard. 'I said –'

'Let's just make it to the fast travel,' the Mechromancer interrupted exasperatedly. Fiona frowned, but opted not to question it. She abruptly assumed a faster pace towards the central building, taking the Artist by surprise. She harried on after her, sighing at her ally's uncooperative behaviour.

'Right then…' the Mechromancer thought aloud, examining the interface to the fast travel machine. She punched in the details of their destination.

'So, about the ceremony,' Fiona began, putting a hand on Gaige's shoulder. 'I'm sorry about –'

She was interrupted by the activation of the fast travel as they dematerialised.

* * *

**So that's the chapter! Just like this story returns, so do the cliff-hangers…although this one isn't perhaps that bad. It's something that would get resolved within the first few lines of the next chapter, rather than some of the ones from before, where the cliff-hanger would be resolved throughout the chapter.**

**Currently, there are technically **_**two **_**main characters, Matt and Gaige. Yep, the Mechromancer's been upgraded from main supporting character to co-main character – although this could change as the story progresses. We'll see.**

**Can't wait to share the details of what exactly Matt is searching for, too.**

**For anyone reading, hope you liked this chapter!**


	3. Fortune Favours

**Here's the third chapter then! I've been so focussed on my exams that I'm honestly surprised I managed to get on with this on schedule. Writing's been a slow burn because of that, but, hey, I managed to get there. There's over 6k words in this chapter, so I think I'll take an extra week to write the next one, which also is shaping up to have over 6k too.**

** I'm glad that I've managed to get into this, and I enjoyed writing the Fiona/Gaige dynamic.**

**And there of course call-backs to the Friendship Gulag Incident from the previous book, but this one is different. I suppose it serves to show the development of Gemini (and the Vault Hunters) from **_**Someone Else **_**to **_**No One Else. **_**Because nothing is really the same.**

**I guess you'll have to see…**

* * *

**3: Fortune Favours**

* * *

Gaige quickly moved forward from the Dust fast travel, purposefully avoiding Fiona's intrusive conversation. She was nice and all, but she was naïve sometimes when it came to Gaige's personal life. Number one thing: she didn't like to talk about it. Her past was not something she liked to cover much, she only sparingly commented on mild details, and especially not anything to do with Matt.

So it was annoying when Fiona would ask her what Matt was actually like.

It was great that she was interested – unlike Rhys – but she didn't seem to understand that Gaige didn't like to talk about her absentee boyfriend. Considering how Matt was forced to leave, that was understandable.

Gemini was also a no-go as well. The Mechromancer would happily tell you how vile they were, or cover basic terminology – but never the gritty details of her past with them. By gritty past, Gaige was of course referring to her torture by both Dan and Violet, as well as Three, with her demonic perhexiline.

Fiona and Rhys were misfits among the Vault Hunters, or so Gaige believed, since they were one of the newest to take up the job. At least some of the others who joined them – like Aurelia – had experience in the area for a good while prior.

Although, Aurelia stayed off-world most of the time, opting to avoid her estranged brother, Sir Hammerlock, however she elected to return to Pandora for the following week to go to Matt's ceremony. It was Lilith's suggestion, despite the fact that Aurelia had never met the Anomaly. Gaige didn't like her too much. She was quite rude and her relationship with Sir Hammerlock was strained at best. There had been evidence of her trying to repair it, but it was few and far between. The Mechromancer was of course quite fond of her arm-buddy Sir Hammerlock, so she did not like Aurelia's treatment of it: past or present.

Gaige looked around her, breathing in the hot air. Ellie's Garage was no longer so; it had been upgraded to an automatic vehicle outpost for the Raiders – complete with anti-intruder forcefield to keep bandits out. The entire place was manned by robots, droids made years ago to make up for the gap of human mechanic employment that persisted still. Now that Scooter was dead, the only mechanics around were Ellie, her "assistant" Dr Straumm, and Moxxi – and there was _no_ way Moxxi was going to indulge herself in tools in public.

_/Would you like to request a vehicle?/ _

Gaige turned to look at the robot which just asked her that question. She nodded.

'Yes. A normal Runner is fine, thanks. We only need two passengers.' The robot stepped back, its eyes changing from a normal green to a flickering blue.

_/Digistructing Runner vehicle…_

_ Skin: default_

_ Cannon: Light MG/_

A Runner formed from blue particles right in front of Gaige and Fiona, slowly but surely. It wasn't very tall, as they expected, but it was big enough. Bored, Gaige ran her foot across the sand to make some sort of pattern. By the time she was finished, the Dust had an extra triangle on it.

Fiona began to climb into the Runner, but Gaige stopped her.

'I'm driving.'

'What? Why?' She complained, sighing childishly.

'Well, do _you_ know where the Gulag is?' The Mechromancer pointed out. Fiona stepped back.

'Oh, yeah. You're right.' Gaige nodded with an open mind and entered the driver's seat. Fiona climbed into the turret. Gaige twisted a few dials and pulled the key on the side to start the engine. It revved up, vibrating violently throughout the vehicle and through the two Vault Hunters' skeletons.

'Robot, open the gates!' The Mechromancer ordered.

/_Affirmative_./

The gate doors shuddered as they opened, revealing the scrap metal ramp that had never been moved. The entire scrap heap remained, although noticeably smaller, as some of the materials had been recycled for the robots which Ellie and Dr Straumm had kindly installed over the past few years. Ellie didn't maintain the place, since she had relocated back to Sanctuary to manage her new Garage (formerly Scooter's) and Straumm was on Elpis completing a Further Engineering course.

'Did you build those robots?' Fiona asked. Gaige sighed silently, having forgotten that Fiona was not present when the work on the Dust was initiated or when it was referred to as having initiated.

'No.'

'But don't you have that Deathtrap bot?' Fiona remembered.

'D374-TP is a combat-oriented robot. The ones here are engineering robots.'

'Right, so you make robots that destroy things, and they wanted robots which _create_ things?' Fiona asked, to which the Mechromancer duly nodded. 'But can't Deathtrap digistruct things?'

'Only certain things,' Gaige elucidated. 'Certain things for use in combat either for itself or for me. You have to code digistruction of those things, you know. I don't know how to digistruct anything or everything. Only what I learnt to do.'

'Ah. I get it now.'

'Let's just go, then.'

Gaige slammed on the pedals, and kicked up sand, although she didn't care. The Runner screeched as it drove through the gates, and up the ramp. Fiona lurched back as they flew through the air for a few seconds. As they landed, the Mechromancer swerved left, shaking the vehicle from the sudden change of direction. They ran over a few Spiderants as they drove over the hills, but it didn't really concern the two of them.

The Buzzard Camp was noticeable in the distance, perched atop the rock formation. It was no longer owned by bandits, thankfully, otherwise, there would've been a concern that they might attempt to bypass the anti-intruder forcefield. At some point down the line, the Crimson Raiders had nabbed it, in a, well, _raid,_ and had been using it to train pilots for their workforce. Not all of them went there, though; it was mainly for those stationed on Pandora. The Buzzard workforce had tripled over the past few years, going from Brick's slab pilots to an entire armada.

It was useful now, since the Crimson Raiders were no longer a minor resistance. They were a major corporation, by Gemini's standards, and operated across the entire Medusa sector. However, everyone knew that they based themselves mainly on Pandora, since its leaders remained tethered there. Lilith hadn't left in a year and a half, but Mordecai and Brick had both been anxious to combat some of the new Vaults that they once took an express shuttle just to leave Pandora. Lilith had been mad at them for weeks, but she conceded; once the Siren understood their ambition, she was ensured of their fidelity.

Gaige, on the other hand, barely left Pandora. She had, once or twice, over the past few years. However, it never felt right and the Mechromancer was driven to remain on the planet. Whether it was due to homesickness, or because Matt hadn't returned yet, it didn't matter. Whatever it was, Lilith and Aurora seemed to think it stagnated her Vault Hunting prowess.

Gaige's life wasn't tethered to Vault Hunting alone. Merely, it was a component of who she was, not all of it. She had visited her parents, under surveillance and protection of the Crimson Raiders. Her dad was happy to see her, and Gaige remembered how ecstatic she had felt to finally see her parents again. Her mother was concerned, in that kind of quirky way she does it, but she opened up and they got to know each other.

The Mechromancer held back a chuckle at the memory of her mother's fussing around her.

If only Matt had been there. He would've loved to meet her parents. Although, Gaige supposed, it might've reminded him of _his_ parents, whom he considered to be his own farce, some kind of red in his ledger. Nonetheless, the Anomaly wouldn't let that ruin such a big moment for Gaige. He was considerate like that.

'So, you never answered my question: have you ever been to the Friendship Gulag before?' Fiona enquired, loudly over the vociferous noise of the engine. Gaige gave her disdainful look, warning her that she didn't plan on talking about. The Artist looked hurt, but avoided the Mechromancer's line of sight to hide it. Spotting her remorse anyway, Gaige sighed and opened her mouth.

_I suppose there's no harm in talking about it._

'Yeah! It was some recon with…some of the others!' She shouted at her. Fiona turned her head, bobbing almost excitedly as she looked down at her. The Vault Hunter listened intently. 'Four years ago, or so, um, Lilith had inspected the Friendship Gulag. She believed Hyperion were holding some kind of technology there – alternative shield parts, which we could possibly use for Sanctuary. So she sent us on a recon mission to find out where it was being stored.'

'And…?'

'And it turned out that there was an entire network of an underground base, hidden by a security door. So, Lilith, Mordecai, Zer0, Axton, me, and…a few others raided it together to steal the technology for ourselves.'

'_Cool!_ So did you get it?'

'Yeah. But not before Hyperion had rigged the entire complex to blow. M…Matt was the one who found it.'

'Wait, wait…_wait!_ Matt was there?' Fiona quizzed. Gaige sighed, slightly.

'Yep. Aurora too. When Matt found the bomb, he couldn't defuse it. I couldn't hack it, either. The only option was to get everyone out – so that's what Matt did.'

'He slowed time and got everyone out.'

'Nope,' Gaige shot down, resisting the urge to smile at the feat Matt had achieved that day. 'He _stopped_ time.'

'He can do that?!'

'He couldn't control it. It drained him; he was only able to move everyone out of the room the bomb was in. The door closed on us…Matt wasn't able to get out.'

'If he couldn't get out, how did he escape the bomb?' The Artist wondered, perplexed, but she could see the grim look on the Mechromancer's face.

'He didn't.'

Gaige went silent, and Fiona knew at this point that she didn't plan on elaborating further. The rest of the ride was punctuated by a tense silence, of which Gaige was evidently keen to perpetuate. The move was already making Fiona want to return to Sanctuary, or better yet, move to Chrysanthia so she wouldn't bother the Mechromancer any further.

Fiona was older than Gaige, but neither of them acted like it. From the way it seemed, Gaige was older. She was only 22, soon to be 23, and Fiona was meant to be 32, but her ally (she choked the urge to say friend; she wasn't sure how Gaige considered their relationship) was much more mature than she was. Over the years, Fiona had recognised how her being around Rhys had made her less and less mature. She always had a fun side to her, but Rhys had an odd way of embellishing it and causing it to come to the surface more often. They were really good friends, Fiona supposed, so that might've been why.

Sasha always made Fiona want to enjoy herself more, but Rhys's "charm", as he called it, made Fiona happier.

_There._ That was _another_ reason to move to Chrysanthia: Sasha was living there. Fiona thought about it initially, but her desire to continue Vault Hunting led her to the central headquarters of the Crimson Raiders (even more so than their capital city, Karabraxis) – Sanctuary. Lilith had convinced her that she would need to live in Sanctuary, if she wanted to formal training to be a Vault Hunter, but that she could always visit Chrysanthia, if she so desired.

The first round of their training involved a fight with Lilith, the leader of the Crimson Raiders. Fiona was permitted to use any and all resources to her advantage, just that she was not to kill under any circumstances. The latter part wasn't mentioned by Lilith, Gaige just decided to helpfully whisper her it in her ear. Fiona supposed the Siren was just that confident that the Artist would not be of too much risk for her.

Well, she had been right. The fight went about as well as one would expect. To be fair, Lilith expected it to be shorter, but Fiona thought it would be longer. The Siren disarmed her and then used some karate take-down to pin her, before locking her in a painful arm bar.

Not a good introduction to her new team, Fiona had thought.

Though, Rhys went down a _lot_ faster than Fiona did, so that made her feel better. The Corporate then proceeded to go on a rant about how he was "more invested in the reformation of Atlas" and that this Vault Hunter gig was "only temporary" and was so he could defend his honour. After all, according to him, there were "a lot of people out there who wouldn't like it if Atlas came back in any capacity", so it was paramount that he could "prevent any assassinations" and throw people off his scent. To be fair, it was a pretty good point and Fiona didn't expect Rhys to be smart about, well, anything, but he surprised her.

To Rhys's credit, Atlas was very successful and without it, the Raiders wouldn't have any funding.

Gemini was a thorn in their side. After Hyperion had gone down crashing (literally) on Pandora, Fiona had expected most of their problems to end. Then, of course, the Vault of the Traveller came along, but they took care of _that_ fiasco. After that, Fiona expected her life as a Vault Hunter to continue without growing complications, but then they touched that chest-thingy in the Vault and they were teleported to another Vault.

It was weird. They were in some sort of arena, in a void of purple energy that seemed to go on forever. There was a weird artefact on the floor, which the Artist tried to interact with, but it shocked her when she touched it and a forcefield quickly formed around it.

When they left, they were tracked by the Raiders, who detected a surge of Infinite energy – thanks to Fiona's interaction with the Artefact – and that was how they met the rest of the Raiders. Zer0, Mordecai and Brick recognised them, whom knew that Fiona identified herself as a Vault Hunter.

Lilith later explained that the Vault they were in was called "the Vault of the Dreamer", which had been invaded several months prior.

'We're coming up on the Gulag!' Gaige alerted her, breaking her Vault Hunter 'friend' from her thoughts.

'Isn't it the Gemini Menagerie now?' The Artist pointed out.

'Well, yeah, but it's still the Gulag to me,' Gaige replied, as she decelerated the Runner outside the entrance to the Menagerie. She stepped out the vehicle, coughing slightly on the sand, signalling Fiona to follow.

'Are we using the C-Digistructors now?' The Artist wondered. Gaige nodded, taking out hers. She pressed the button and assumed the form of a Gemini Deceptor. She had manipulated the form so that her metal arm was still exposed when in use. She could change it if she really needed to blend in, but she mainly used it to go invisible anyway.

Fiona pressed the button on her C-Digistructor, changing into the form of a male Deceptor.

'Woah! Ah, this is _weird._ My voice sounds different; it's all deep and male.'

'Press the button on the underside to turn off the voice modulator,' the Mechromancer informed to her, to which she nodded. She pressed the button and marvelled at how her voice went back to normal. 'If you want to go invisible, press the button on the belt. Careful though, it drains the battery.'

'This is awesome,' Fiona described, examining her limbs to see how they were no longer visible. 'Right, um, how are we gonna get in?'

'Leave that to me,' she advised. Gaige pressed a few buttons on her metal arm, and pulled up a hologram, which wrapped around it. Her arm connected to the Gemini Network, and allowed her to bypass the firewalls and enter the Menagerie intranet. The door to the former Gulag slid open in front of them. 'Told you.'

_Good thing the security isn't set to maximum._

Gaige pressed a button and she went invisible. From Fiona's perception, she was still visible, but barely. She could make out the outlines of her body, and assumed the light frequency of the Deceptor visor had been tuned to see her. She walked up to the door and passed through. Fiona hurried behind her.

* * *

Amelia moved a strand of hair as it hit her face. The wind was blowing in her face aggressively, hindering her eyesight annoyingly.

Matt had found a Catch-A-Ride near a bandit outpost and digitised a Silent Runner **(A/N: Basically, it's a Runner, but the engine is silent.)** vehicle for them. Of course, the Anomaly was driving, and Amelia got into the turret. As a result, she was up higher, so more wind was hitting her than her brother. It was certainly frustrating. At least the engine wasn't so noisy that it overpowered her thoughts too.

On the plus side, they were getting the closer to where the Artefact directed them towards. Whatever it was, Matt was adamant it was important, an she was stringing Amelia along for the ride.

_This is NOT how I expected to spend my first day as a real person in the real world since I died._

She really wanted to meet some of Matt's Vault Hunter friends, or maybe make some of her own, but nope, Matt wanted them to go off on some possible wild goose chase. Of all people, Amelia expected the Anomaly to be the most desperate to return to his friends, to Gaige. Instead, Matt's priorities were elsewhere.

'Something on your mind, Amy?' The Anomaly asked her. Amelia chomped down on air in frustration.

_Damn. I forgot how perceptive he can be sometimes._

'Why don't you want to go back to your friends?'

'I _do._ But this is important.'

'What if this leads nowhere?'

'There is no "if".'

'You can't be so sure!'

'If it means I can prevent the Great Monsoon, then yes, I can!' Matt snapped, before quickly losing his anger and sighing. 'There's no point in returning to my friends if they're going to be dead later on anyway.'

'You don't know that,' Amelia replied. 'Don't you want to see Gaige again?'

'Yes! More than anything!' The Anomaly confirmed. 'But I have to prioritise what's important. _This_ is more important; that's the ugly truth. I have to look at this situation objectively. My objective conclusion: chasing this lead that an actual _Eridian_ matter _more_ than blind festivities.'

'You sure you're being objective?' His sister questioned. 'Or are you just afraid to go back?' Matt scoffed.

'Why would I be –'

'Because of the way you left. It just happened, almost out of your control. And now, it's been _four years._ I wouldn't be surprised if you're scared to face them.'

'I'm not –'

'I don't think so,' Amelia interrupted again. 'Maybe they don't want you back. Not after being without you so long. Maybe Gaige has practically forgotten you. You don't know. And I think that's what you're afraid of.' Matt sighed, but didn't say anything.

'To be honest, I don't know what I fear. A little bit, yeah, I am scared to see them. I hate how I basically abandoned them. Yeah, it was to save them, but it felt _wrong,_ nonetheless.'

'Matt, I am _certain_ they will be happy to see you,' she ensured him. 'And if they're not, then I'll…_talk_ with them myself.' Matt chuckled at her persistence, profoundly glad at his sister's considerate nature.

'Yeah, maybe you're –'

He was drowned out by an explosion behind them. Amelia spun around on her turret to see a fleet of Bandit Technical vehicles chasing after them. Two of them had rocket pads and the other four had sub-machine guns. One of them even had an Angry Midget Psycho on the hood of the car, banging on it anxiously as they approached the two of them.

'Bandits are on our tail!' Amelia warned to Matt, who gritted his teeth in seething frustration. 'Do you think we can lose 'em?'

'Lose them? Lose them _where?'_ The Anomaly pointed out, gesturing towards open expanse of dirt hills and sand dunes. 'You any good with aim?'

'Good enough!' Amelia responded, as she fired towards the Bandit cars with her turrets. The vehicles began to weave a bit more to dodge the bullets, but she managed to shoot off some of the Marauders in the back of the vehicles.

Matt managed to spare enough time from manoeuvring through the wide (enough) V-shaped valley to see her shots at the bandits.

'Aim at the drivers, not the passengers!' He ordered her.

'_I am!'_ His sister confirmed indignantly.

'Yeah! Not well, apparently!'

'And you think stating the obvious is going to help?!'

Matt quickly searched through the storage within the Runner, keeping an eye on the road. He pulled out two green, cylindrical objects and handed it to her, leaving her bemused.

'Class-A Incendiary-explosive cross-element grenades. They'll blow the vehicles up and then light them up on fire.'

'Cool!'

'Be _careful.'_

'I know!' Amelia assured him, trying to focus on the bandits.

She threw a Class-A grenade on the ground in front of them, and it blew up in less than a second, sending one of the Bandit Technicals up into the air and leaving it on its head. It then exploded.

'Wahoo!' Matt's sister exclaimed in pure glee, throwing her arms up in the air and almost throwing away her remaining grenades. 'Heh. That was _too_ close.' She threw another grenade at the remaining five Bandit Technicals, but they were able to dodge it and the explosion shockwave merely knocked off a few passenger bandits.

'Bad luck,' Matt described, rather unhelpfully. Amelia shot him a dirty look and he immediately shut up. As he manoeuvred around, he saw a tunnel in the side of the mountain, on their left. Curious, the Anomaly sped up to get a closer look.

'Woah!' Amelia cried, as she lost her balance on the turret. The remaining grenades fell out of her grip. They exploded, and the shockwave shook one of the Technicals and caused it to lose balance and veer off to the side of the road. It crashed into another vehicle, and they both exploded. 'Er, we've lost the grenades! You could've warned me before you sped up!'

'No, it's…' Matt didn't finish as he saw inside the tunnel. There was a train coming. '…Perfect.' He slowed down in front of the train, baiting the three Technicals to chase after them. He waited on the tracks, and the Technicals went after, and got close until Matt drove away.

Smiling, Matt watched as the vehicles were smashed with a silver train. His grin was erased when he spotted a rhombus Gemini logo on the side of the train. He frowned in confusion.

_Since when did Gemini have cargo trains on Pandora?_

'Mattie?' Amelia called out. 'You alright? We won! We can continue on our search now.'

'R-right,' Matt replied earnestly. 'We, uh, we should move on.'

* * *

When Gemini rebuilt the Gulag, they made it bigger than ever before. It was large; it was annoying. Gaige didn't even know her way around anymore, but it didn't feel like exploration either. She felt like a fish out of water, and Fiona didn't feel too different about the situation about it.

They moved through the complex carefully, trying to avoid the Gemini personnel who were crawling about the place. A truck passed along a road beside them, carrying multiple prisoners in back behind metal bars. There were several red-glass chrome buildings with Gemini logos on all of them, much higher than the Hyperion ones that lay there before. Many of the patrols seemed to case the area, while there also a network of roads that prisoner vehicles drove down.

'What _is_ this place?' Fiona whispered to her.

'What did you _think _the Friendship Gulag was used for?' Gaige scolded quietly. 'It's where they hold prisoners.'

'Oh my god,' Fiona hissed in horror. 'What are they _doing _here?' She moved forward to do something, but Gaige held her back.

'This isn't a rescue mission,' the Mechromancer told her sternly. 'We're just here to observe and report. Maybe one of those offices has a computer where we can access their database.'

'You're telling me you don't want to rescue them?' Fiona argued.

'_Later._ Not now. I'm sure Lilith will be open for a rescue op _once_ we know what we're dealing with here.'

'O-OK,' Fiona agreed, breathing deeply.

Gaige moved around the area, gesturing for Fiona to follow, and they manoeuvred around the Conquistadors and Guards, trying not to make too much noise. They walked around a corner when Gaige suddenly pulled her into an alleyway. Two Deceptors passed by.

'What the hell d'you do that for?' The Artist demanded.

'Deceptors can see _other_ Deceptors when invisible,' her ally told her. 'Their visor can see through the retro-reflective panels. Our disguises technically count. Why do you think you can see _me?'_

'I dunno I just thought…' Fiona's voice trailed off arbitrarily.

'It doesn't matter,' Gaige dismissed, waving her hand at her refutably. 'Let's just keep moving.'

Fiona nodded meekly and followed after the Mechromancer, who took her awkwardly compliant disposition in stride. They came to a locked door, and Gaige began working on it with her mechanical hand, trying to get through the Gemini mainframe. She groaned in frustration, and almost hit the door in anger, but she held herself back.

'It keeps locking me out,' the Mechromancer told her. 'It's a surprise it hasn't alerted all of Gemini yet; probably due to my amazingly brilliant protocols and sub-protocols which I don't have enough time to explain how they bypass all warning system code within the mainframe…'

'Lemme try,' Fiona offered, taking out a hairpin.

'It's an _electronic _lock,' Gaige informed her.

'Then why is there a key-shaped slot?' Fiona asked her, looking at her cheekily. The Mechromancer murmured a series of ums and ahs, but gave no discernible intelligible reply. Fiona used a knife and began to pick the lock, carefully manoeuvring them through it with untold precision. Eventually, there was a snap, as the locks aligned, and the door opened. Fiona pushed it open with a smile.

'Nice,' Gaige complimented, for once, and they stepped inside, weary not to draw the attention of anyone.

The room was an office room, but it was empty. There were four cabinets standing tall on the sides, with shelves lining the sides. There was a line of Holo-Readers at the end of the office, all displaying screensavers of the Gemini logo holographically in front of it. A door stood off to the side, labelling dubiously as "Lavatory", made out of a solid faux-wood material. The overhead light was a single strip of white light, faded into a meek grey, and the glass had cracked in several places.

'This place must be not be used much,' Fiona observed quietly. Gaige nodded.

'Gemini advanced to no longer need offices like these, but I guess they kept them as a back-up.'

There was a sound of flushing from behind the lavatory door, causing Fiona and Gaige to wince slightly. They moved to the back themselves against the wall in line with the door, as it began to open.

A loud sigh reverberated throughout the room, as a Gemini office worker stepped out and examined his surroundings once again.

'Fifteen years of service on board the CCG I gave,' he complained openly. 'Only to be stuck minding the store in a _run-down_ office in the most _run-down_ planet in the _whole_ of the Medusa sector.' He sighed again, walking over to examine one of the Holo-Readers. Gaige signalled for Fiona to follow him. 'It's just my luck. And Director McCain is lavishing it up on Castor, relaxing over Gemini's victory over the Raiders a few months back. How _unfair_ is that?'

A door beside the line of Holo-Readers, with "STORE ROOM" emblazoned across it opened and a woman stepped through.

Fiona took out her trusty handgun, but Gaige stopped her. She mouthed the words, "too loud".

'It's just the way it is, Charlie,' she begrudgingly informed her. 'We can't all be Samael McCain.' Charlie snorted at that. 'Unless you wanna end up like Commander Sharp, do you?'

As Charlie logged onto the Holo-Reader and began reading through the files, Gaige directed Fiona to take out the woman while she would handle the man.

'Where is Sharp now?' Charlie inquired.

'Rehabilitation,' she waved off. 'Trying to get some of his intelligence back. Apparently, his daughter has been caring for him.'

'Has he said anything in that time?'

'He talks naturally with his daughter. To anyone else, he rambles about some great war. He gave it a name, too.'

'What name?' Charlie wondered, shaking his head in confusion.

'The Great Monsoon.'

Charlie looked up to see his assistant on the ground, unconscious. He was about to get up to warn someone, but Gaige swiftly dispatched him with her metal arm. The two Gemini workers lay on the ground, unconscious. Gaige and Fiona moved them to the storage room, chary not to awake them.

'What was that about the "Great Monsoon"?' Fiona questioned avidly, as Gaige seated herself in front of the Holo-Reader that the office worker, Charlie, had unlocked for her.

'It's a long story, and I don't know most of it,' Gaige disdained, not even making eye contact with her. 'It hasn't even happened yet – if at all.'

'Why are you making it sound like a conspiracy theory?' The Artist inquired bemusedly. The Mechromancer gave her look that told her everything she needed to know. 'Wait, it _is?'_

'Er, well, kinda,' she described ineffectively. 'The Eridians already confirmed it for us. If Matt ever comes back, he'll be able to describe it for you. He knows more about it than me.'

'You think I'll actually get to meet him?' Fiona probed her, half confusion, half excitement. Gaige didn't respond, and instead continued searching through the files.

'Aha!' Gaige exclaimed, almost too loud, practically throwing her arms up in the air. 'Gemini just _love _to back-up their files!'

'What did you find?'

'The base-code to the entire Gemini Menagerie! It's encrypted, but I can break it. There are a thousand different keys I could use, but my arm works through that in a second. If I can do this right, then I could dismantle the entire network! I'll be able to release all the prisoners! The Raiders can use this place for themselves!'

'That's brilliant!' The Artist responded excitedly, only half-understanding what she was talking about.

'Brilliant? Yes. Conditional? That too.'

'Under what conditions?' Fiona asked her.

'Well, I can't use them _here._ I'd have to get into the main interface of the Menagerie to access the entire network. And there's _no_ way we're getting past that like _this._ There's a bunch of security protocols in the way, one of course being a Deceptor-Negative Field. It cancels out Deceptor invisibility and it'll fry any technology connected to it.'

'So what do we do now?'

'We get the hell outta here. We've observed, now all we gotta do is report.' Gaige manipulated the data with her arm, syncing the files to her arm and copying to her preliminary database stored within the circuitry beneath the metal. 'There. Data copied. Let's go.'

They turned to leave, but they were faced with two Deceptors, who had visible smirks beneath their visors.

'Ah, OK, um, _hello,'_ Gaige greeted awkwardly. 'D-don't mind us, we – uh – we were just leaving.'

They both tried to move, but the Deceptors stopped them. Gaige sighed.

'I don't think it's gonna be that easy, Gaige,' Fiona told her.

'You think?' She replied sardonically. The woman sighed, throwing a punch at one of the Deceptors with her metal left arm. The Deceptor fell to the ground, unconscious. The other one immediately reacted by pulling out a gun, and aiming it at the two.

_'I wouldn't try that on me if I were you,' _she warned, hitting Gaige with her gun. She stumbled back. The Deceptor manipulated with her communicator, holding her gun up the whole time. _'Emergency! Emergency! The Menagerie has been breached! Code R3D; initiate security protocol seven-one-two.'_

Red lights began flashing about the room as sirens wailed vociferously about the complex.

'Ah, shit,' Gaige commented annoyedly. She hastily disarmed the Deceptor and knocked her out with her own gun. Fiona remained standing there, almost in shock. 'C'mon! We have to go, now!'

'Yeah, I know,' Fiona confirmed, as they both ran out the door.

The entire complex was on high alert. Guards, Conquistadors and numerous Elites charging down the streets. Gaige pulled Fiona back into the alleyway they had hid in before.

'Do you think they'll predict our return?' The Artist asked her.

'Dunno,' the Mechromancer admitted. 'As far as they know, we're renegades. They don't know we're affiliates of the Crimson Raiders, so they won't be aware of our motive or intent. If we can get out of here, _fast,_ then we should be OK. It won't matter that we were compromised.'

'So what you're saying is: we need a little ingenuity and speed to get outta here alive,' the Artist surmised concisely. Gaige nodded.

'Yeah, pretty much. You wanna try our luck in the worst way possible?' Gaige's cheek and charm returned in full force, surprising her friend.

'Why not?'

'Do you know what, Fiona?'

'Yeah?'

'I like you,' the Mechromancer responded amicably. 'I think…I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.'

'Born within the depths of a Gemini complex?' Fiona criticised light-heartedly. Gaige laughed whole-heartedly.

'Yep.'

* * *

**Ah, it's nice when characters develop a friendship. It was nice to explain what happened to Fiona and Rhys after they touched that weird chest thing. They were teleported to the Vault of the Dreamer, which was supposed to cut off from the outside world. And then of course, they met the rest of the Crimson Raiders.**

**Fast forward four years, now they're fully-fledged members of the Raiders and Sasha (and Vaughn) are living in the residential city of the Crimson Empire. (You'll see Karabraxis and Chrysanthia later.)**

**So the next chapter will switch between Matt's perspective and Gaige's, but hopefully it won't seem to disorienting. It won't happen too often anyway.**

**Hope you readers are liking it so far!**


	4. The Devil in the Details

**I have _not _forgotten to write this, fortunately. I've just been bust with projects and a few exams, along with other personal stuff that I won't concern you with. Anyways, this is long chapter, around 6.5k. The story furthers.**

**I saw all those trailers for Borderlands 3, too. Man, the game looks awesome. Guns on legs? Yes please. I guess they'll work like landmines. A pity I won't get to _play _it until April 2020, since I use Steam and not the god awful Epic Games Store. _Thanks, 2k._**

**However, this story must go on. Well, maybe not "must", I just want it to. Here it is, then!**

* * *

**4: The Devil in the Details**

* * *

Matt observed cautiously, hoping not to do anything unwise, or activate something Eridian by accident. He kept Amelia close to him, aware of her usual lack of balance, since she wasn't used to having a physical body. She may have been fine (mostly) up to this point, but the Anomaly wasn't going to take any chances.

Standing before them was a tall structure of stone, with three pillars standing at different heights, all connected by a crescent-shaped strip of stone. There was a circle in the ground, with sections of rock jutting out from the centre like sections of a shutter trap-door. There were two Eridian statues standing beside the pillars of stone, in poses symbolising power, influence and honour.

'Some sort of bunker?' Matt supposed confusedly. 'No, no, no – if Eridians needed anything to store, they'd keep it in the Infinite.'

'Unless this is _before_ they discovered the Infinite? What about then?' Amelia suggested. Matt shook his head.

'No, the Eridians discovered the Infinite _millions_ of years ago, long before they came to inhabit Pandora,' the Anomaly dismissed. 'Besides, the stone isn't millions of years old; there's no way the terrain would remain the same for this long to keep it afloat _and_ the stone would've crumbled by then. This is something else.'

'What is it?' His sister wondered bemusedly.

'C'mon, Amy, use your brain!' Matt encouraged.

'Right, uh, well Eridians store things on Pandora that they intend to use upon their return.'

'Yeah, right, so why would they build a structure like this, just in the middle of practically nowhere? And why have a Vault direct us to it?'

'If they wanted us to find it, for what's inside.'

'Yes, but…?' Matt urged excitedly.

'If they wanted us to _use_ it and _keep_ it, they'd store it in a Vault, like the Artefact. No, they wanted us just to find it, interact with it somehow, but not appropriate it for ourselves.'

'So what do they need it for? Look at the statues.'

'Oh, yeah I see,' Amelia realised. 'They symbolise honour, respect, power, influence and legacy. But that's not shown for us, it's for them. In the Vaults, their statues are mainly power and control, to imply to us, the lowly humans, that they are more powerful. They don't care to tell us about their honour or respect; there's no need.'

'On the right track, good,' Matt complimented. 'So why would the Eridians want to tell _themselves_ about one of their own compatriot's greatest aspects?' Amelia sighed, understanding his implications.

'If they wanted to make a memorial.'

'Yep. Ha, ha!' Matt celebrated, jumping up and down and hugging his sister ecstatically. 'Knew you'd figure it out!'

'So what you're saying is…?' Amelia inquired, purely flummoxed.

'It's not a bunker; it's a _tomb.'_

'An Eridian tomb? On Pandora?'

'A special one, obviously needed for a specific purpose. Why else would they keep _this_ particular one on the planet and _no other?_' Matt mused aloud, excited at this new development.

'I don't know, why?' Amelia postulated.

'You wanna find out?' The Anomaly posited to her, gesturing towards the tomb.

'How are we supposed to get in?' His sister pointed out.

'Same way we always do,' the Vault Hunter responded with a smile, flaring up black and red lightning.

He walked towards a podium on the side of the circular entrance in the ground, pressing his hand against it. Amelia followed after him, watching as the podium glowed a dim gold, but otherwise nothing happened. Matt took his hand off.

'OK, _maybe _not…' He presumed, nonplussed with a risen eyebrow.

'Allow me,' his sister advised. She stepped forward, waving her hand over the podium. Matt noticed her limb go erubescent, as red as rubies, before the podium reacted with a bright gold.

In response to Amelia, the section of the tomb entrance slid open, revealing the stairway going down into the depths of the Eridian Tomb. Amelia gave a victorious smile, which Matt guessed was her attempt to gasconade, but he ignored it. At least Amelia was panurgic, somewhat.

'How'd you do _that_?' He immediately questioned. His sister suddenly gave a look of apprehension.

'Er, well, the Eridians granted me access to all Eridian structures and full privileges to their technology,' she enlightened him.

'Why?' The Anomaly catechized.

'They said you'd need it, but they'd rather give the privileges to me. The Watcher said they wanted to specifically make sure I was with you whenever you endeavoured to investigate anything Eridian.'

'_Or_ they don't trust me.'

'If they don't trust _you,_ what makes you think they'd trust _me?'_ Amelia pointed out. Matt sighed and nodded, understand she was right.

Although, the possibility they gave Amelia the ability and not even tell him about it could've been for adscititious reason to maintain some semblance of control over him. It didn't really bother Matt too much.

'Well, c'mon then!' The Anomaly directed, as he began walking down the steps into the unknown abyss.

The steps were cracked and many of the edges had crumbled, filed into rounder edges naturally over the time, but they still maintained a great degree of support when Matt's feet stepped down upon them. His boots made a loud thumping sound when they hit the stone, cacophonous to his ears, but nonetheless, they held up against the force.

Once Amelia and Matt had reached the bottom of the steps, the torches on the wall abruptly lit, line by line one after each other. They burnt with an entirely red flame, crimson and erubescent, but lighting up the hallway well enough.

The walls were constructed from ancient stone bricks, crack and aged yellow like bone. Moss and dirt seeped through the gaps between the bricks like a germinating disease. Matt observed how they twisted around the rectangular shape of the blocks, caging them and holding them together as a natural reinforcement.

At the end of the hall, there was some kind of entrance, circular in shape. Neither of them could distinctly make out the details at this distance, especially since the lights did not light at that point. They would have to walk closer for the other torches to light. They lit themselves while Amelia and Matt walked down it.

It was simple but grandiose, as per the Eridians' style. They loved extravagance, especially since they were a highly intelligent and highly diverse species, although generally the species was gravitated towards science – more specifically, studying and harnessing the Infinite.

Very Eridian-like behaviour.

'How do we get past the door?' Amelia asked, as they stood before the circular entrance. It had various ringed panels around it, with prongs over the across the sides, covering the gaps where the door would open. A centre, round gem-like piece was lodged in the centre, a midnight black shade.

'You have access to all Eridian facilities, remember?' The Anomaly reminded her, almost superciliously. Amelia assumed a dumb look, slapping her forward at her stupidity.

She leant forward and pressed her hand against the centre of the door. Her hand glowed gold, and slowly, the cracks in the door glowed the same hue, spreading out from where she touched it. The centre gem glowed white, completely changing colour from the dead black. Abruptly, the rings began rotating, emitted a clicking sound as they all moved in different directions and at various speeds. Eventually, they locked into place, and the prongs shuttered out open, allowing the door to slide aside.

The Eridian Tomb was completely open.

It was black inside; an encroaching shadow threatening to engulf them. There was nothing quite as dark, as empty as the anomalous abyss outside of the universe.

As Matt and Amelia stepped into the ceremonial room, they were met with alien purple lights, which were likely made from Eridium. The room was as grandiose as expected, with more Eridian statues and material belongings to symbolise the entombed Eridian's former wealth.

In the centre of the room was a rectangular stone structure, old and yellowed in shape with a cottage loaf-like layer to it towards the bottom. There was a line down the centre of the top surface, where the two top sections fitted together like aesthetically challenged jigsaw pieces.

'We've found the Tomb,' Amelia announced. 'So let's go already!'

'C'mon, we travelled a fair distance to get here,' the Anomaly pointed out. 'There's got to be _some_ reason they directed us to this Tomb. Maybe there's something we're supposed to do with it.'

'Like what?'

'If I had to guess, something to do with the Infinite. And the Eridians.'

'So what? Do we open it? There's no instruction manual!'

'The best instruction manual is your own initiative.' He leant forward and touched the stone coffin, crouching down to examine it. It was fascinating to see how every piece fitted together, but it didn't tell Matt a thing about how to activate it.

_Maybe activating it will allow me to communicate with the Eridians, _the Anomaly considered. He powered up his Chronokinesis, emitting lightning from his arms violently. They struck the stone aggressively, leaving blackened scorch marks on the side, encompassing the whole structure. Nothing seemed to happen.

'See?' Amelia pointed out. 'There's no way to activate it. You're not meant to. _I_ can't even do i–'

She was interrupted by the sound of air escaping the sarcophagus, as the very top panels rose upwards and split apart. Matt stepped back and out of the way, observing how they moved to expose the contents and slowly locked into place. The Anomaly looked at Amelia confidently.

'"No way to activate it", huh?' The Vault Hunter gloated frivolously.

'Oh, shut up,' Amelia pouted. 'What's inside it, anyway?' Matt shrugged, stepping towards the top of the stone casket and attempting to look into it.

'OK. Not sure if I should be surprised or not.'

* * *

Gaige and Fiona had tried using their communicators, but it seemed that Gemini had scrambled their wavelength. No help from Lilith, then. It was difficult manoeuvring through the sewers without coughing vociferously from the faeces.

'This stuff _stinks!'_ Fiona complained distastefully, wincing when she accidentally sniffed.

'I _know!' _The Mechromancer confirmed agitatedly, trudging through the mud and shit and trying to ignore the squelching sound made. 'But it's either or this or trying to get through the entire complex _topside.' _

'Yeah, but who sees a manhole in an alleyway and thinks, "ooh, trudging around in shit in pitch black? How could I resist?!"' The Artist catechized, much to Gaige's chagrin.

'There's probably an exit around here somewhere,' she replied, dismissing her complaints.

The sewer was dark, as dark as Gaige would've expected, but luckily, Fiona had a mini-torch on her to light the way. Rust covered the iron tunnel walls somewhat deftly, masking the shine they once had, along with the dried excremental matter and biological waste splattering the lower sides at their knees. There was no end in sight; no divine light at the end of the tunnel.

It seemed to go on for miles.

'Why would there be many exits anyway?' Fiona questioned, and continued once Gaige gave her a demeaning look. 'The Menagerie is a _self-sustaining, energy-efficient_ compound. I doubt there would be much need for maintenance.'

'If the Menagerie was completely self-sustainable then why would they need human workers?' Gaige pointed out, quite confidently. When Fiona struggled to respond, the Mechromancer gave her look of disappointment. '_Exactly.' _

There was a sudden beeping about the tunnel, and the duo looked around desperately to find the source. Eventually, Gaige realised it was the technology in her arm alerting her to something. Examining it, her face practically lit up.

'I got a bar of ECHOnet data!' She celebrated.

'So you can communicate with the Raiders?' Fiona quizzed ecstatically.

'No,' Gaige responded bluntly, making her friend go crestfallen. The Mechromancer put a finger up to her, as if to tell her to be quiet. '_But, _it _does_ mean that' – she began fiddling around with her arm interface, and a blue hologram popped up in front of them of a map – 'I can get a good look at the Menagerie schematics.'

Fiona mouthed an 'ah' as Gaige zoomed through the 3D map of the Gemini Menagerie. She moved through each level and sublevel until she reached the sewers. It was a long pipe stretching out to all edges of the complex, in a network of wastage and water pipes to cater to Gemini's needs. Once the Vault Hunter found the area of the sewage pipe they were in, she searched for some sort of exit.

'Aha!' The Mechromancer exclaimed, pointing at a small compartment on the side of the pipe, with a ladder in the centre. 'There's our exit, only half a klick from here! C'mon!'

With that, she sprinted ahead, not caring about the excrement she was kicking up into the air behind her. Upon noticing Fiona was not behind her, she stopped in her tracks, looking back towards her fellow Vault Hunter.

'What are you doing? Aren't you coming?' She demanded frantically, not wanting to waste time.

'I wanted you to get a suitable distance away before I followed,' Fiona sheepishly replied, although Gaige still frowned in confusion. 'I didn't want you kicking up shit into my face.'

'Oh, _grow up!' _Gaige disparaged angrily.

'I'm older than _you!' _Fiona argued.

'Then _act_ like it!' The Mechromancer ordered, breaking back into a sprint down the tunnel. Fiona sighed and pursued after her, wincing again at the squelching sound at her feet.

Gaige rushed into the side of the tunnel and into the compartment that she had been looking for. She smiled as she saw the ladder in the centre of the room leading to a ladder shaft for them to climb up through. Fiona arrived, but was too busy catching her breath to grin at this new development in their escape.

'Look! We can clean ourselves off, too!' The Artist notified her, pointing towards the clean water gushing out the pipes fitted into the walls at the back corner of the room.

She took off her boots, grimacing at the faeces on the bottom of her shoes and walked over to the pipes. She looked down to where the water was gushing into, to be assured that there was indeed a filter for the water to pass through. Gaige eventually came over and they both dumped their faeces-covered shoes into the water. It wasn't difficult to scrub it off, fortunately, and the difference was definitely noticeable.

'Well, that's better,' Gaige commented happily. She shook her shoes to get the water off and put them back on. 'If you can survive wearing wet clothes for a little while.'

'I'll live,' Fiona replied cynically. Gaige walked back over to the ladder, and looked up towards the manhole. She began climbing, with Fiona following her.

The ladder shaft wasn't too long, but it was long enough to be considered as such. An occasional yellow LED on the round walls lit the way for them, allowing Gaige to see the cover at the top.

The _Great_ Escape.

Once they reached the top, Gaige lifted the manhole up and over, allowing her to survey her new surroundings.

There was a building right before her, made out of metal bricks with weathering at their edges. All shine it might have had was gone, adopting a grey, somewhat blander appearance. Instead of glass, the windows had thick vertical bars, almost entirely preventing light from getting in. Each one was the same: windswept but otherwise pristine and in mint condition.

Not even a chip or a scratch across the whole surface.

'I found the prison,' Gaige told Fiona bitterly, climbing out the ladder shift to show her.

'Do you think we can break 'em out?' The Artist suggested.

'Right now, making it out _alive_ would be an achievement,' Gaige replied, causing Fiona to give her a frustrated look. '_Later.' _

Eventually, the Vault Hunter nodded, although evidently still exasperated.

'Where's the exit, anyway?' She inquired, looking around bemusedly. Gaige examined the 3D schematics.

'We're _behind_ the prison right now,' the Mechromancer recognised. 'At the border to the Menagerie.' She turned around, only to be met with a large congruent grey wall. 'The exit is not too far around the corner.'

'Great!' Fiona celebrated prematurely, walking towards the side of the barracks, where there lay a gap between it and the next building.

'Fiona!' Gaige whispered desperately. Either the Artist didn't hear her or just didn't care, since she continued. 'Fiona, don't wander off! You don't know where you're–oh, never mind.' Shrugging her shoulders, the Mechromancer chased after her, as quietly as possible.

_How big IS this prison?_ Fiona wondered, as she moved briskly along the side of the prison, her back to the wall. Brusquely, she felt a hand on her shoulder, and she tensed up. Turning around, Fiona was met with the face of Gaige the Mechromancer, who quickly put a finger up to her lips to tell her to shush.

'We have to move _quietly,' _she hissed to her. 'This place is patrolled by _hundreds_ of guards. If they pick up on _anything,_ then we're _toast_.' Fiona nodded in understanding, and began moving slower to accommodate.

There was an abrupt scream of pain coming from a nearby window, causing both Fiona and Gaige to shudder. Fiona rushed to the barred window to see what was going on, before Gaige could restrain her. The screams continued, urging Fiona more and more to find out what the hell was going on.

Finally, she found the window. It was larger than usual, but still had bars, probably to mock the prisoners by giving them a good look of only a wall of the outside world.

It was a dark, dingy room, with the only bit of light being let in by the window and small lights on the wall.

There was a dark figure tied to a chair in the centre of the room, its ankles were tied to the chair legs and its arms to the back of the chair.

Two other figures of indiscernible features stood before it, one which seemed to have its arms folded and the other leaning towards their captive.

'_Tell us!' _The closer one ordered.

'No…' the prisoner, seemingly female, responded weakly. 'I'm not telling you how I broke into the CCG.' Gaige and Fiona rose an eyebrow at that.

One of them moved an arm to the nearby table and twisted a dial. There were sparks of electricity which coursed through the convict and she yelled out in pain.

'Say…that…_again?'_ The torturer scathingly catechized, pausing between words to electrocute her aggressively. The woman growled in pain, trying to hold back her screams.

'I…said…_no.'_

Evidently incensed, the other person stepped forward and angrily slapped the woman across the face.

'You're not here at your own _leisure,_ 2341,' she claimed irreverently. 'Tell us what we need to now, _quickly, _and we'll let you go.' Something of a snigger came out from Prisoner 2341.

'If I tell you what you to know, you don't _need_ me anymore. Why would I share the information that's keeping me alive?'

One of the torture guards responded with a current of electricity through 2341's veins.

'Don't get smart with _me,_ 2341,' he disdained. 'Why did you break into the CCG? What were you searching for?'

'Shouldn't you know that?' the prisoner dodged. 'Didn't you see the files I looked through?' The female torturer slapped her.

'_Of course _we did, but we just want to know _why.'_

'Sorry, _sweetie_, I'm not telling you anything,' the woman insulted cynically.

Prisoner 2341 was greeted by numerous controlled shocks, spreading to every extremity of her body in less than a second. The jolts were continuous and extremely excruciating, as evidenced by her vociferous screams.

Fiona staggered back, pressuring her back against the wall. Her eyes were wide in shock.

'Fiona? You alright?' Gaige asked her, her voice almost drowned out by the shrieks.

'No, Gaige, I'm _not_ alright!' The Artist almost yelled. 'That poor woman's being tortured in there. How are you remaining so calm?'

'Practice,' the Mechromancer supposed, slightly shrugging her shoulders.

Fiona searched with her pockets, before remembering she was using an ECHO and began rummaging through her inventory.

'What are you doing?' Gaige demanded, but Fiona didn't answer. She didn't even look at her. Something digistructed out of her inventory and into her hands.

A nova grenade; large radius.

Fiona looked like a deer in headlights when Gaige saw it. She moved to place it on the wall, but the Mechromancer stopped her.

'You can't! You'll alert the _entire_ complex to where we are! They're already looking for us!' The Mechromancer told her alarmingly.

'Don't you want to help these prisoners?' Fiona replied desperately.

'_Of course_ I do, but survival is paramount. Besides, what are just _two _of us supposed to do that _hundreds_ of Crimson Raiders _can't?'_ Gaige reasoned logically.

'Then _you_ can get out in the commotion, but _I'm_ doing something about this!' The Artist argued contemptuously.

'As your commanding officer, I can't let you do this,' the Mechromancer declared, but Fiona didn't care.

'Sorry about the arm,' Fiona apologised sincerely, before shooting her fellow Vault Hunter with the shock setting on her mini gold revolver. Gaige staggered back, electrocuted. 'Sorry! I hope that didn't hurt too much!' She activated the grenade and threw it through the wall, into the far corner.

There was a massive explosion, causing both the Vault Hunters to wince as metal shards flew everywhere and the bricks crumbled. Fiona shot the two torturers with fire damage, burning their faces off as they clutched them in pain.

Immediately, the sirens blared loudly, forcefully entering their ears.

'Who are you?' Prisoner 2341 asked her.

'I might ask you the same question,' Fiona responded. 'It's Fiona. I'm from the Crimson Raiders. We're here to release some of the prisoners here.' 2341 visibly perked up at the mention of the Raiders.

'Crimson Raiders? I've been looking to join you!' 2341 claimed excitedly. 'That's why I let myself get captured here.'

'You _let_ yourself get captured?' Gaige inquired in the background suspicious.

'Gaige, I'm _so_ sorry,' Fiona apologised profusely.

'Doesn't matter now; what's done is done,' the Mechromancer concluded.

'Er, not to interrupt, but, yes, I let myself get captured,' the prisoner said. 'I wanted to join the Raiders but I had no way of transporting myself here. So I made Gemini do it for me. I'm an escape artist. Breaking in and out of secure compounds is my specialty.'

'Sounds great, now let's get the hell out of here!' Gaige replied hastily.

'Right, yes,' Fiona agreed, untying Inmate 2341.

'Thanks,' the prisoner acknowledged. 'It's Deborah, by the way.'

'OK, _Deborah,_ you got any escape ideas?' The Mechromancer asked her.

'If I _did,_ I would've done it by now.'

Fiona inspected the corpses of the guards, pulling a strange round device. It was black and had several round disks, on top of each other at different levels. At the centre, there was a small white activation button.

'What's this?'

'It's an Emergency Spacial Displacement Device,' Deborah explained. 'Highly experimental, but it _might _be able to displace us out of the Menagerie.'

'If I reprogram it,' Gaige added, causing both Deborah and Fiona to look at her bemusedly. 'I'm a technological engineering genius with an enthusiasm for gaining expertise. Of _course_ I studied them at Sanctuary's technology institute.'

'Be fast, the guards will be here any minute!' Deborah warned, throwing Gaige the ESDD.

'It's a quick fix, don't worry. Just stand guard and shoot anyone who comes to stop us.'

Fiona threw Deborah a Hellfire from her ECHO inventory and equipped an Atlas Double Anarchy herself. A few guards came around the corner, and they shot them quickly.

'Not to sound ungrateful or anything, but why did you save me _specifically?' _Deborah asked Fiona curiously.

''Cause you're special, Deb,' Fiona jested, causing Deborah to frown at her exasperatedly. 'I saw you getting tortured. Badly. So, I –'

'Felt sympathetic?' Deborah finished for her. 'What if I was an agent working to _take down_ the Crimson Raiders? You'd be leading yourself right into a trap. Did you consider that?'

Fiona blinked. 'Um, well, no, but –'

'Sympathy gets you killed,' Deborah advised. 'Besides, your rescue just alerted the whole of Gemini to our location.'

'My emotions got the better of me.'

'I can see that.'

'Sorry,' Fiona apologised awkwardly. Deborah fired a few shots at the heads of the guards swarming around.

'It's OK,' Deborah assured her. 'You're only human. I know what it's like for your emotions to cloud your judgement. That's how I got into this mess. I'm only here because I was looking for my son.'

'Who's your son?'

'It doesn't matter now. I found his file in the Gemini database – he's dead.'

'I'm sorry.'

'Don't be,' she reassured her confidently. 'I've been looking for the Crimson Raiders so I could join them. You know, to honour his memory. He worked for the Raiders, so I thought I'd do the same.'

'That's, uh, poignant,' Fiona described, not entirely certain how to respond in the situation.

'Yeah, it's something like that.'

_[ATTENTION: WILL THE TWO ROGUES HAND THEMSELVES IN OR FACE EXECUTION.]_

With that announcement, a colossal swath of Gemini Guards appeared around both ends of the hallway – too many for them to handle. They tried firing back, but the Guards were more prudent in their aim and successfully shot their weapons out of their hands.

'Gaige, have you got that thing working yet?!' Fiona asked her loudly. Her question was answered when Gaige trudged into the hallway beside them, with a guard holding a gun to her back. She held her hands up with a frustrated glare on her face at the Gemini personnel around her.

Fiona noticed the circular ESDD in the Mechromancer's pocket, and caught her eye. Gaige winked at her subtly.

'Who are you?' One of the Guards demanded.

'Unbelievable you don't know,' the Guard Commander claimed, stepping out from the crowd. 'You haven't read sufficiently from our database, have you? This is Gaige and her accomplice is Fiona. They're Vault Hunters.' Gasps spread out through the crowd, but the Guard Commander shushed them decidedly.

'You're Vault Hunters?! Like, _real_ Vault Hunters?' Deborah whispered to them in disbelief.

'Oh, I haven't hunted a Vault in a _long _time: I'm not sure I deserve that title anymore,' Gaige replied casually. 'It's quite a dangerous job too, but you know, I've come to terms with that. And what about you, Commander? What compelled you towards _your_ job?'

'Imprisoning scum like you is a great motivator,' the Guard Commander replied.

While Gaige stalled them, an ECHO message showed up on Fiona's HUD.

[USE THE ESDD!]

Fiona saw her slowly pass the device over to her, while she distracted the Guards' attention away from her pockets. Quickly, the Artist responded with a thought message of her own.

[WHAT ABOUT YOU?]

[DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME. JUST GET BACK TO THE RAIDERS AND THEY CAN ORGANISE A RESCUE MISSION!]

[CAN'T I JUST GRAB YOUR HAND?]

[THEY'LL NOTICE IMMEDIATELY, AND SHOOT YOU BEFORE YOU CAN PRESS THE BUTTON! WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO MAKE THEM MOVE ME IN RANGE OF THE ESDD!]

[ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THIS?!]

[I'M DUPLICATING ALL THE DATA I TOOK FROM THE MENAGERIE DATABASE TO YOUR ECHO. IT'LL BE FINE.]

[BUT THEY'LL TORTURE YOU!]

[NOTHING THEY HAVEN'T DONE BEFORE, NOW _GO!]_

Receiving the ESDD from Gaige, Fiona took Deborah's hand to ensure herself that the woman was in suitable range. When Deborah gave her a confused look, she merely winked at her.

'Well, I'd love to stay and chat with Gaige here but I must be off,' Fiona announced confidently.

'See you later, Fi,' the Mechromancer replied with levity.

'And how _exactly_ do you plan to make your escape, for the uninitiated?' The Guard Commander probed disparagingly.

'Like this,' Fiona replied, taking out the ESDD and pressing the white button in the centre.

The teleport activated in a haze of orange energy.

* * *

Amelia looked at the sight curiously.

It was a skeleton, as anyone would expect, although it was an Eridian's anatomy. Its skeleton was slender with inhuman proportions, like long leg bones and a strangely extended jaw cage. Its bones were not yellow or greyed like normal human bones; instead, they were a blue crystalline material, which was almost translucent.

On its chest, it was holding a stone brick. There were cracks of purple Infinite energy were flowing through them, with an orange glowing gem in the centre. The Eridian's arms were posed to hold it, clutching it tightly.

'What _is _it? What's it holding?' Amelia asked curiously, an eyebrow risen.

'Not a clue,' Matt admitted. 'But it's worth finding out.' He leant a hand towards the cube, but his sister grabbed his arm to stop him.

'_Stop! _What if it's _dangerous? _You know, like, _booby-trapped?'_ She suggested.

'This Eridian Tomb _recognises_ the Infinite. You're _half_ Infinite energy. I'm pretty sure we'll be fine. Besides, if all else fails, my Chronokinetic lightning should be recognised by the Tomb too.'

'Are you _sure?' _

'Oh c'mon, where's your sense of adventure?' Before Amelia could react, he put his hand on the cube, and the orange glow strengthened. The Eridian skeleton's hand moved out the way for Matt to pick up the whole cube. Groaning from its heaviness, he hauled the cube out of the sarcophagus.

'What _is_ this thing?' He wondered. 'I suppose we need to…activate it?'

Matt charged his Chronokinesis once again, revelling in the lightning that coursed through his veins excitedly. They transferred to the cube, causing the purple energy to brighten significantly, and cause an oppositely-charged shock to flow into him.

'Ow!' The Anomaly yelled out in pain, causing him to drop it at his feet. Half of the cube rose up, revealing a circular tube in between, which glowed a golden energy.

'I was wondering when you would get here,' a voice claimed, before a figure appeared.

An Eridian – Esog the Watcher.

She was lit by an unknown otherworldly source, completely bright and slightly orange, a stark contrast to the darker, dingier Eridian Tomb.

'I hope I'm not late,' Matt responded jovially, clasping his hands together excitedly. 'Would you mind explaining why you wanted me here?'

'That cube is an Pandimensional Interspatial Conduit. It provides an strong point from the Infinite this dimension. It's nowhere near strong enough yet to allow travel between the two dimensions, but it _does _enable me to communicate with you.'

'To tell us what?' Amelia catechised curiously.

'These Tombs are spread out across Pandora – the prophesised epicentre of the Great Monsoon,' Esog explained. 'Once activated, they link us closer to this dimension, since we are unable to leave the Infinite without a human host. Should we ever desperately need to escape the Infinite, then these Tombs will, eventually, provide us with an escape route.'

'Why can't you leave the Infinite?' Matt's sister conjectured.

'Because they don't have physical bodies anymore,' the Anomaly elaborated for her, turning to her slightly while keeping the Watcher in his peripheral vision. 'You remember how hard it was for me to give you a human body? Think how much rarer it would be to get Eridian DNA to create a new one for _billions _of Eridian spirits. Once they moved into the Infinite permanently, their bodies went with them.'

'You kept _your_ body.'

'Because the Anomaly is a tether between the Infinite and the Midgardian dimension,' Esog enlightened them. 'The purpose of this is that he must have a physical body. It is science that we unfortunately invented too late – thousands of years after we elevated completely into the Infinite.'

'So why tell us about these Tombs? Are you saying we should go after them?'

'That is for you to decide,' the Watcher returned indifferently. 'The inception of the Great Monsoon is unknown; quite possibly, you could even prevent it. However, if you keep these Tombs connected for too long, you risk causing another backlash effect. Volatile Infinite energy will mix with Dark energy and result in a Big Crunch effect.'

'Business as usual, then,' Matt joked ebulliently, casting an exuberant smile towards his sister.

'You must return to the Crimson Raiders,' the Watcher instructed them. 'You are required there.'

'You don't have to tell _me_ twice,' Matt told her. 'I'm anxious to return to my friends. But what exactly do they need us _for?' _

'To go into _exact _details, I'm certain your friends are in danger at what you may call the Friendship Gulag. It has since been taken over by the corporation known as Gemini.'

'The Dust is _miles_ away, how are we supposed to get there in time?' The Anomaly pointed out.

'Long-range spatial relocation,' Amelia realised, to which the Watcher nodded. 'By use of the Dispersal Energy section of the Infinity Spectrum. It allows Eridians to transfer particles from one area in the Infinite to the other. Now that this Tomb is active, the Watcher can apply it to the Earth dimension – but only from this location and only with a _huge_ amount of energy.'

'When did you become intelligible about the science of the Infinite?' Matt laughed with her, impressed by her intelligence.

'Since I became a host of a species _native _to the Eridians,' Amelia carried off gaily. 'It's easy to learn when information is constantly streaming into your head.'

'Standby for teleportation,' the Watcher ordered them, directing her arm towards the two of them. Her arm began to swirl with purple energy.

'Gemini, here we come,' Matt muttered under his breath.

Slowly, and wearily, Gaige's eyes opened, only to be greeted by the silencing presence of a ubiquitous black. Expecting to see angry faces of Gemini guards, she reflexively pulled up herself up off the ground, despite her disorientated senses meaning she was unaware of her surroundings. However, the Mechromancer did not see a prison cell – not even a Gemini soldier.

Instead, she was met with the many hills of sand pertaining to the Dust.

Gaige looked around and saw the entrance of the Gemini Menagerie. She could feel the grit and silt in her shoes, as well as the discomfort of sand slipping down her neck.

'I was wondering when you were going to wake up,' a voice claimed. Gaige jumped when she saw Deborah sitting down on the sand in front of her Runner vehicle.

'Why didn't you wake me up?' The Mechromancer inquired perplexedly.

'You have a metal arm, I wasn't sure if you'd be as jumpy as to sucker punch me in the face with it when you woke up,' the woman explained sheepishly.

'Are you around people like that often?' The Mechromancer asked carefully.

'I used to be a lawyer, so yes,' Deborah waved off, getting up off the ground. Gaige frowned for a second; it seemed to ring a bell a bit. 'So what's the plan?'

'Plan? What do you mean plan?'

'To rescue your friend. Fiona, was it?'

Gaige's eyes widened, almost beyond human capability. Fiona wasn't with them.

'Shit!' The Mechromancer susurrated furiously. 'The…the ESDD must've malfunctioned and the targeting system defocused it. I-I was hurrying, I must've left an exposed wire to close to the Targeting Gyroscope.'

'So what do we do?' Deborah queried inquisitively, uncertain how they would succeed.

'There's no chance we're getting back in,' Gaige cognised, shaking her head. 'This whole thing wasn't meant to be a rescue mission: it was a simple observe and report. The only option now is to report. Lilith planned to attack this place once we had all the necessary information, so maybe we can mount a liberation attempt in the crossfire.'

'Great! Do you mind unlocking your Runner?' Deborah awkwardly requested.

'Oh, right.' She manipulated with the interface on her arm and the Runner vehicle activated. Gaige leant into the driver's seat and ignited the engine.

'So what I am supposed to do while your "siege" is going on?' Deborah wondered, climbing into the turret.

'I'm dropping you off at Sanctuary. You can tell Lilith all about your intentions to join the Raiders in a strategist position.'

Deborah nodded silently.

* * *

Lilith crossed her arms with a pointed glare.

'What do you mean you "lost" Fiona?!' The Siren demanded deafeningly, nearly creating an rumble throughout Sanctuary HQ.

Gaige resisted the urge to remain fearfully silent.

'The ESDD…it malfunctioned. Fiona took my place and I took hers. Once they were aware of our presence, there was no way of getting back in.'

'What were you thinking, using experimental technology? Didn't it cross your mind that reworking it could make it more dangerous?!'

Gaige sighed. 'That was the first thing that crossed my mind, but the only other option was to wander around until we got caught. And once we got another tag-along, going around invisible was out of the question.'

'Ah, actually, that reminds me,' Lilith continued irritably. 'Who the hell is _this?!'_ She pointed impertinently at Deborah, who was standing quietly by the Vault Key.

'Er, I'm Deborah.'

'She's a prisoner who wants to join the Raiders,' Gaige enlightened her.

'Why would I –'

'She broke into the CCG, Lilith,' the Mechromancer expanded for her. The Siren stood poised, raising an eyebrow to hint for Gaige to continue. 'I heard her torturers talking about it. Her son was apparently a Crimson Raider who was killed – probably by Gemini?' She turned to Deborah, and she nodded weakly. 'So now she wants to join up with the Raiders to honour him. She's a lawyer. There aren't many of those around here right?'

'I have information,' Deborah added. 'On Gemini. I stole it from their archives.'

'I suggest you talk to Tannis, then,' Lilith finally conceded. 'She runs the Science Department, but she's also a liaison between Karabraxis and Sanctuary – she'll be able to set you up with your position with the strategist sector of the Raiders.'

'Thank you,' Deborah acknowledged brightly. In response, Lilith suddenly gave her a serious glower.

'But if I find out you're not who you say you are, or worse, a traitor, then I will not hesitate to end you. And I'm not just talking about your job. Have you got that?' Deborah remained remarkably calm towards her threat.

'Completely.'

'Good,' Lilith simply responded. She turned to the Mechromancer. 'Gaige, call for Rhys, Axton, Aurora and Zer0. We're organising an assault on the Menagerie.' Gaige jokingly gave a salute before leaving to find the latter Vault Hunters.

* * *

**And that's the chapter!**

**Oh boy, lots happened in this chapter. A mysterious "Deborah" who broke into Central Capricorn Galactica, which is the most secure and high-profile base in the whole of the Hathusis Galaxy (that's the galaxy that this universe takes place in), and we don't know how.**

**The Watcher returned again, using this mysterious orange end of the Infinity Spectrum, which has the purpose of dispersal using a Pandimensional Interspatial Conduit – the cube in the Eridian sarcophagus. **

**The action's slowly ramping up, with Fiona now captured by the Gemini Corporation and Matt is now _finally _making his way towards the Crimson Raiders once again. I deliberately didn't have the Anomaly return immediately, because not only will that Tomb they visited set up half of the story, but I didn't want to rush things either.**

**Fiona is surprisingly immature, even though she's older than Gaige, because she's honestly still excited to be a Vault Hunter. And Deborah criticised her for it. Lilith, of course, is incredibly paranoid and distrusting, so I'm not surprised that she didn't trust her. However, she isn't finished with Deborah just yet. **

**Dunno if you read all that – I won't be writing a TL;DR – but anyway I hope you all liked this chapter!**


	5. Magnum Opus

**Well, here we are again. It's always such a pleasure. I'm sorry. Just kidding, no I'm not. I've returned with the fifth chapter, and I've been writing a lot. This chapter was originally going to be much longer, so I had to split it into two, the other still being quite long anyway.**

**So in this chapter, Fiona's in a bit of trouble. And we're getting close to Matt returning to the Crimson Raiders. His return will hopefully be a bit cool, too. Still introducing some Vault Hunters as well, however I don't want to break pacing and flow by randomly having title cards for all the Vault Hunters.**

**That being said, I still plan on introducing some.**

**Anyways, here you go. Enjoy!**

* * *

**5: Magnum Opus**

* * *

_Fifteen minutes ago…_

The Artist looked disgruntledly around her. The hordes of Gemini personnel seemed…amused…of her predicament. Certainly, the Guard Commander maintained a sardonic smile. Reluctantly, she put up her hands in surrender.

'Looks like your little friends have left you,' she mocked.

Indeed, they had, but by accident. They had disappeared into purple energy, which itself dissipated and the two had gone. Gaige was pressed for time when rewiring the ESDD, so it was not surprising that something went wrong.

She stared down at the ESDD. The battery acid had leaked and corroded the surface with an orange tinge, and had cracked across the centre, revealing the fried circuitry underneath. The white button had worn away to a sharp silver shine; it was now completely impossible to press.

The Vault Hunter was almost afraid that touching the dried acid would damage her skin somehow. Best not to pick at it, then.

'I don't suppose any of you will give me a free pass?' Fiona wondered, half joking, half serious.

Annoyed, the Guard Commander merely nodded to one of her guards, and the Vault Hunter felt only a hard blow to the back of her head. Her vision went starry and disoriented.

Slowly, Fiona felt her legs being dragged roughly across the ground. Her sight was murky and the only thing the Vault Hunter could distinguish was the concrete floor.

It was strange, for them to drag them across it – rather than carry her or transport her. However, it was probably on purpose, just for some adscititious discomfort of her flesh scraping against it, just to torture her that little bit more.

_ 'Transport of Vault Hunter in progress,'_ she heard a robotic voice say.

_'Who is she?'_ Another voice asked, although she heard it as little more than radio chatter.

_'Some tech expert. A master mechanic and computer scientist, or something.'_

_Wait, what?_ She wondered, still disorientated. _I'm not a…they must be confusing me for…_

She found herself unable to finish her sentence.

_ 'She's a Vault Hunter, too,'_ the same person said. _'No wonder they're taking her to Special Containment.'_

_'Anything else?'_

_ 'And there's another thing. Apparently, our radar detected some movement less than a klick away from the Menagerie.'_

_ 'Yeah, so?'_

_ 'It was unauthorised.'_

_ 'Probably Spiderants or something like that.'_

_ 'They detected signatures of some unidentified form of energy. But there's a bigger kicker.'_

_ 'What is it?'_

_ 'They dubbed it an Anomalous Event.'_

_ 'That's impossible. How can they be so sure?'_

_ 'They don't think it's him. But the "unidentified" energy was the same type he used and the same one found in the Vault.'_

_ 'Isn't the boss worried?'_

_ 'Uh, yeah! He sent out a squadron of soldiers to check out the source.'_

After hearing this conversation, one major question sat in the Artist's mind: what the hell was an Anomalous Event?

Of course, she didn't have time to conjure any other questions, because her vision went black.

* * *

Fiona growled primordially as a slap was thrown roughly across her face.

'Where are your friends?' The interrogator demanded harshly, with a stern expression across her face. 'What the hell was that stunt you pulled off?'

Fiona chuckled.

'As if would tell you.'

She groaned when the woman punched her in the gut.

'Some sort of ESDD? How the hell did the Raiders manage to reverse-engineer that? It's –'

'Yeah, I know, "highly confidential and highly experimental", yada-yada-yada. I'm still not telling you how my friends escaped.' The Artist shuddered in pain when a torrent of electricity flowed through her erratically.

'I wouldn't talk to your superior like that, if I were you,' the Gemini interrogator advised her superciliously.

'"Superior"?' The Vault Hunter scoffed. 'Uh, no.'

In response, the woman took out a pistol and pressed the nozzle down at Fiona's leg

'Say that again?' She taunted sadistically.

'No.'

Fiona cried out as the bullet ripped through her leg muscles and narrowly missed her bones. Blood began leaking out of the hole left behind, which was dark in colour. The sight filled the Artist with some relief. She didn't puncture an artery.

More electricity flowed through her body, making Fiona grit her teeth in agony.

'How about we switch? Tell me, how'd you manage to blow up the Associated Constellations of the Great Cascade?'

She only received a slap.

'I ask the questions here,' the prober disclosed to her firmly. 'Besides, you wouldn't understand.'

'That sounds like code for "I don't actually know either",' Fiona taunted her.

A few more jolts of electricity coursed through her aggressively.

'Tell me how you got this,' she questioned, holding up an extremely damaged ESDD.

Fiona smiled.

'Stole it,' she replied, still panting over the pain she was experiencing.

'Finally, some answers,' the interrogator praised condescendingly. 'Thank you for sharing…' Her face suddenly dropped. '…information that we _already_ knew.'

Fiona's confident act dropped.

'One of our guards woke up with their standard-issue ESDD missing from their tool belt; it was not hard to make the connection.' The woman pulled up a chair and sat down on it in front of Fiona, glaring at her menacingly. 'You must've rewired it. But it went wrong, didn't it? It teleported the Mechromancer away instead of you. However, you failed to address that all ESDDs are equipped with a tracking function.'

Fiona instinctively moved forward, to try to do something, but her chains stopped her.

'Wherever your friends went, our Deceptors more than likely followed them. Hell, they could've teleported right into Sanctuary. Then you would've provided us with a way right into the command centre of the Crimson Raiders itself.'

'What do you want with me?' The Artist demanded.

'You're networked into the entire Crimson Raider pathweb, anything you send gets distributed across the entire system. Send across a virus or I will execute your friends.'

'B-but I'm not a computer –'

'–Genius? Then how did you rework the ESDD?' She pointed out. The Vault Hunter opened her mouth to speak but the woman stopped her. 'And don't say it's because you didn't. Because if it wasn't you, then we have no use for you. Think carefully about what you say next.'

'How long do I get to do it?' The Artist asked.

'Thirty minutes, tops. If you don't complete it in the allotted time, you will be terminated with extreme prejudice.'

'I can't code if I'm dead.'

'Gemini has multiple strategies for destroying the Crimson Raiders. This method is one of many. If this fails, we will recover.'

Fiona nodded meekly. The interrogator signalled for two Gemini guards to come into the office room, with assault rifles equipped and they carefully untied the Artist's arms but kept her legs bound. They moved the electricity capacitor closer to the Holo-Reader, prompting Fiona to internally sigh.

'Feel free to shoot her in the foot if she isn't working fast enough,' the interrogator informed them, before leaving the room.

* * *

Gaige avoided the frustrated looks her Vault Hunter allies were giving her as Lilith explained the situation. Zer0 didn't have any discernible reaction, but Axton had his arms crossed and Rhys was outright glaring at her.

'Now that Fiona's been captured, we have no choice but to push forward our plans to assault the Menagerie,' Lilith concluded.

'So lemme get this straight,' Rhys said exasperatedly. 'Fiona's been taken because _she_' – he pointed derisively at the young woman – 'thought messing around with technology she doesn't fully understand would be a good idea?! Why couldn't you just "observe and report" like you were supposed to?!'

'Look, I'm sorry,' Gaige apologised. 'It was a mistake. I didn't think skipping one lecture to go muse at Matt's statue would be so negative. However, I won't stand taking shit I don't deserve. Maybe you weren't listening _asshole_, but it was Fiona who had the bright idea to save Deborah. I was under pressure to get us out of the situation, so can you blame me for messing up a bit?!'

Rhys sighed angrily, but didn't say anything. He was about to move forward to do something, but Axton stopped him.

'I understand you're mad,' the Commando recognised. 'And you have every right to be. But this isn't Gaige's fault. She did everything she could, but we know how complicated those ESDDs are. Tannis is the only one who really understands it. The fact of the matter is, Gaige made a mistake, and now she is making amends.' Rhys still kept an extremely agitated complexion.

'Arguing like this / It will only divide us / Keep our unity,' Zer0 advised them. They all looked at the Assassin with mixed expressions.

**Zer0 the Assassin**

_1010011010_

'If it helps, I also managed to download the Menagerie base-code.' Rhys finally eased, breathing a sigh of relief.

'That's perfect,' Aurora agreed. 'It's much easier to access to whole base when we know its fundamental components.'

'Precisely,' Lilith concurred. 'Right, now that our disputes are over, we should get on with rescuing Fiona.'

Gaige nodded and connected her metal arm to the scanner room in HQ, syncing the data. She pulled up the 3D schematics of the Gemini Menagerie. She took it out hastily.

'There's a network of service tunnels underneath the facility,' she informed them, pointing out the map of passageways in the hologram. 'However, since they learned of our infiltration, they've got Guards patrolling the entrances and exits.

'The two main entrances are the original Gulag one, and another one they built out the side here – a secret entrance. Unfortunately, the trapdoor is magnetised so can't be opened by hand unless overloaded with energy, which we have no way of providing.

'The only option is a full frontal assault. With the base-code of the facility, I may be able to bypass the heightened security to let us through. From there, we'll have to wade through the hordes of Gemini soldiers.'

'With only five of us?' Aurora doubted. 'Don't you think that's wishful thinking?'

'There's no other option: everyone else is out on other missions,' Axton told her.

'Yeah, but we can send in some of the Raiders,' Lilith added. 'Most of them are on Elpis right now, dealing with a massive prison raid at what was Lima Base One.'

'There's been a lot of radio chatter about Fiona, too,' Rhys told them. Curious, Gaige took out her ECHO and adjusted it to the radio frequency. The audio was incredibly scrambled, but some of it was discernible.

_ 'Who is she?'_ A voice wondered dubiously. although

_'Some tech expert. A master mechanic and computer scientist, or something.'_

'What?!' Gaige frowned disconcertedly. 'No, I'm the computer and engineering expert!'

'Looks like they confused you with Fiona,' Axton presumed.

_ 'She's a Vault Hunter, too. No wonder they're –'_ The audio suddenly scrambled in complete cacophony.

'No wonder they're what?' Lilith demanded, turning to Gaige. 'Isolate the signal!

'I'm trying!' The Mechromancer insisted, messing around with the control panel and her ECHO. Slowly, the audio signal started to become clearer.

_ 'They detected signatures of some unidentified form of energy. But there's a bigger kicker.'_

_ 'What is it?'_

_ 'They dubbed it an Anomalous Event.'_

Gaige dropped her ECHO, not listening to the loud metal clattering it made on the ground. She stepped back clumsily, eyes widened and jar dropped to the floor.

_ 'They don't think it's him,'_ the voice added, hardly intelligibly, but the discord caused by the precarious connection when the ECHO fell to the floor.

Tentatively, Lilith picked up the ECHO and detached it from the main scanner console. She put a hand on her shoulder.

'Gaige,' she simply called out. A lone tear fell down her face, but none of them could tell if it was exultant or crestfallen.

'No, no, I'm fine,' the Mechromancer sniffed. 'We, uh, we should prepare.'

'I'll get together my equipment,' Axton stated wearily. Rhys and Zer0 nodded in agreement, and they all left the room.

'Gaige,' Aurora addressed her. 'Are you sure you're OK?'

'No,' she replied honestly. 'This is the first Anomalous Event in four years. What if this means that…that…'

'We shouldn't get our hopes up,' Lilith advised her.

'Yeah,' Aurora agreed. 'For all we know, it could just be a surge of Infinite energy. Like a solar flare – an Infinity flare, if you will.'

'We've never had those before,' Gaige criticised. 'We can't rule out the possibility that Matt is back.'

'If Matt really was back, wouldn't he have made his way back by now?' Lilith argued.

'Maybe he knew about what was going on at the Menagerie and decided to help,' the Mechromancer replied. 'He could've heard the talk over the radio and thought it was me.'

'That's a stretch and you know it,' Aurora shot down.

'Can you blame me?' The Vault Hunter angrily retorted. 'I've been waiting so long for to have Matt back, and this is the first sign of him in years. I was beginning to think he wasn't coming back. Are you honestly surprised that I'm jumping at the possibility?'

'Assuming makes an ass out of you and me,' the Fable wrote off dismissively. Gaige rolled her eyes and sighed exasperatedly. 'Look, I would love to have him back, but we need to be realistic here.'

'You were lecturing me before about how I should "have faith" that he will come back! Well, this is me, having faith!' She exclaimed furiously.

'There's a different between faith and blind belief. I believe Matt will come back, but we've had a few false returns in the past – when he thought he was back but he wasn't. This could easily be just another misfire.'

'You don't know that for sure!' The young woman disputed irreverently.

'No, we don't,' Lilith soundly agreed. 'And we're not saying this is definitely not Matt. All we're saying is that you should try not to get your hopes up. We don't want to see you miserable if it turns out not to be true.' Gaige breathed deeply and exhaled silently and calmly.

'I-I know, you're right.'

Aurora put an arm around Gaige's shoulder amicably.

'C'mon, we should probably get our equipment together,' the Fable reminded her.

'Right, yes!' The Mechromancer jumped up excitedly. 'There's just one thing I've gotta do first.' Aurora looked at her curiously, but Gaige waved it off dismissively.

She hurried to her house, moving past the crowd of Raiders and Sanctuary citizens. Abruptly, Gaige collided with someone, and the Vault Hunter hastily apologised before moving on.

Upon arrival at her home, she pulled up the shutter to reveal her workshop, where Deathtrap was hanging by chains.

'OK, two things,' Gaige remembered, activating the blue button on the back panel of her D374-TP bot.

Powering up, Deathtrap's eye went red and the aero-jets (formerly gyro-jets) activated, blowing on the air on the ground. With a few presses on her metal arm, Deathtrap dedigistructed into a haze of blue digital particles.

Silently, Gaige walked over to her metal worktop, sighing slightly at the worn red paint on the sides. She picked up Matt's ECHOear off of its surface and stared at it for a seconds.

Hastily, she stuffed the ECHOear into one of her pockets.

* * *

Matt crouched down, swiped up the sand with two fingers, and examined it as it slipped through the gaps in between them. His eyes narrowed curiously as the first and shingle.

'What's so interesting about sand?' Amelia questioned him. The Anomaly breathed deeply through his nose and stood back up.

'Nothing,' Matt replied. 'It's what it reminds me of: the dust in the Vault of the Dreamer.' His sister visibly tensed up.

'Yeah, so?'

'How did they get there?' He immediately interrogated. Amelia didn't answer. 'What is it you're not telling me?' Still, no response. 'OK, I'll figure some of it out. It wasn't there after the Dreamer went down, so it definitely wasn't your deed.

'You can't just say "time" caused it because it is highly unlikely that dust would form there in those specific spots in the exact same concentration.

'Also, the Vault closed after a while so any air that got in would have been sucked out, and the artificial atmosphere wouldn't have caused dust to form. So I'm guessing that that leaves the only possible interval of time to be when I was possessed by the Enlightener.

'So tell me, Amy, what is it that happened that you don't want to talk about?'

'It…it doesn't matter,' she lied. Matt frowned darkly.

'Don't lie to me,' he ordered her firmly. 'You're bound to me. As long as I live, you live. We're connected. We've surpassed the need for lies.' Amelia sighed, well aware that Matt was the only reason she was even alive.

'Can I tell you later?' She asked wearily. 'The Watcher told us to focus on infiltrating the Menagerie.' Reluctantly, Matt nodded.

'Fine. But we aren't done having this conversation. I didn't spend four hun–'

'Stop right there!' A voice demanded. It was digital and undefined, as though it was being passed through a filter.

Matt spun to his right to see multiple Deceptors uncloaking before them. It was an entire squadron of Gemini soldiers. Hastily, he hid his face before they could see who he was.

Dammit! The Anomaly thought. I can't let Gemini know I'm back yet.

'This is a red zone,' a Deceptor told him sternly. 'And you are unauthorised personnel. Would you kindly tell me who you are and what you're doing here?'

'Er, no thanks,' Amelia answered for him.

'Who are you?!' The Deceptor leader demanded. He looked closer at Matt. 'Wait a minute…you're…you're…'

Realising his cover was blown now, Matt showed them his face.

'It's the Anomaly!' One of the squad recognised. 'But he's supposed to be dead.'

'Didn't you read the file, corporal?' Their leader derided her. 'The Anomaly was scheduled to return at some point. I guess that time is now.'

'They have a whole file documenting that?' Matt asked them, with mock bliss. 'Ooh, I must be famous.'

'Stay where you are, Anomaly,' the squad leader commanded him irreverently.

'Hmm, pretty sure I don't work for Gemini anymore,' the Vault Hunter reminded them condescendingly.

'I have to report this,' the Deceptor leader said silently, but Matt still heard it. Seeing him about to take out his radio, Matt generated sparks around him of red and black lightning.

There was a flash of red trails around the Gemini soldiers. Amelia looked on stoically. It happened so fast that it didn't seem like Matt had even moved.

Once the trails stopped, as abruptly as they had begun, there was a delay. Matt stood calmly and so did the Gemini soldiers.

Then, after a little while, all of the Deceptors dropped to the ground.

'They're going to get suspicious when they don't radio a report soon,' Amelia told him.

'Yeah,' Matt agreed, bending down beside the body of the Deceptor leader. 'That's why we have to move quickly.' He picked out his radio and fiddled with the receiver antenna. The audio signals became to focus and become more concordant and the static slowly began to clear up.

'Transport of Vault Hunter in progress,' they heard an automated voice announce..

'Vault Hunter?!' Matt exclaimed worriedly.

'Who is it?' Amelia asked her.

'Dunno, trying to maintain the signal,' the Anomaly admitted, turning the dials on the control panel of the radio

'Who is she?'

'Some tech expert. A master mechanic and computer scientist, or something.'

'"Master mechanic and computer scientist"! They must mean Gaige!' Matt deduced.

'No wonder they're taking her to Special Containment.'

'So we need to get to Special Containment, then,' Amelia supposed. 'Any idea where that is?' Matt didn't respond, as he was too busy maintaining and focusing on the radio waves.

'And there's another thing. Apparently, our radar detected some movement less than a mile away from the Menagerie.'

'Ah, that must've been us,' Matt surmised sombrely.

'They detected signatures of some unidentified form of energy.' The audio went scrambled after that.

'They detected the surge of Infinite energy from our teleport, then,' Amelia realised, sighing emphatically, while Matt tried to hone back in on the signal.

'They dubbed it an Anomalous Event.'

Annoyed, Matt aggressively twisted the dial and flicked the switch to turn the radio off. **(A/N: This is the last time you will hear this radio conversation, I swear!)**

'We need to move fast,' the Anomaly cited quickly. 'Once they realise something's wrong, they're going to divert their resources to find out – especially if they think it's the Raiders. But I can't use my Chronokinesis; there's a high probability they'll be able to detect it.'

'My first day just keeps getting better and better,' Amelia joked cynically.

* * *

Fiona examined the text on the Holo-Reader. The two Gemini Guards, which her interrogator had stationed, stood at the back of the room with their guns firmly in their hands.

She didn't know much about computers, but she had taken a lecture in Karabraxis about coding once – but there was very little about creating viruses. Even with a lecture, Fiona was nowhere near as good at it as Gaige was. Fortunately, the Artist had managed to create a program capable of something, which could be moulded into virus, so at least they couldn't question that she wasn't doing anything.

However, it was difficult to work when her bullet wound had received minimal treatment and still hurt immensely. If Fiona was lucky, maybe it wouldn't get infected, although there didn't seem to be much opportunity for escape. It was quickly becoming apparent that Fiona would likely not be able to get the medical supplies to treat the bullet injury.

Slowly but noticeably slow, the Artist typed into her coding program. She stopped when the pain in her wound flared up, clutching it and seething from the pain.

'Hey!' One of the Guards addressed her derisively. 'We didn't say you could stop working.'

'I need medical attention,' Fiona complained. 'It's hard to work with a bullet wound!'

'Shut up or it'll be two bullet wounds in a minute,' the other Guard threatened her.

Fiona wished they hadn't taken her weapons, or else she would've shot them with corrosion right in the eyes by now. Or, maybe, she'd cauterise her wound with the incendiary damage. Or overload the computers with shock damage.

She looked down at her feet, studying the chains at her ankles. The locks looked old, perhaps they worked like classic ones.

Maybe I can pick the lock… Fiona wondered, thinking of the hair pin in her hair. Making sure that the Guard wouldn't see her, she examined the inside of her coat. Hopefully they didn't take it…

Inside her zipped pocket lay her switchblade knife, disguised as a simple nail file. Luckily, Gemini couldn't recognise a hologram to save their lives.

_But how am I supposed to pick the lock without the Guards noticing?_ She wondered hopelessly. Looks like I'm going to need a miracle right about now.

As if to answer her plight, sirens abruptly blared, louder than ever before, and all the lights within the facility began flashing a deep cerise. The Holo-Reader displayed a message about "REROUTING POWER" and promptly shut off in front of her, and the bulbs suddenly went brighter.

'[ALERT: XK-CLASS ASSAULT SCENARIO IN PROGRESS. CODE BLUE! THE MENAGERIE IS UNDER ATTACK. ALL NON-MILITARY PERSONNEL ARE ADVISED TO GO TO THE EVACUATION SHELTER OR ANY OTHER SAFE AREA UNTIL GEMINI HAVE SUCCESSFULLY NEUTRALISED THE THREAT.]' The voice was automated, robotic, and so vociferous that it echoed through Fiona's ears.

_That must be the Crimson Raiders come to rescue me,_ she assumed, smiling to herself.

'That looks like a pretty major threat,' the Artist told the Guards. 'Looks like you gotta go deal with that.'

'Do you think we were born yesterday?' One of the Guards contemptuously barked. He walked over to her, picking up some rope from one of the drawers. 'I'm not taking any chances.'

He gruffly grabbed her wrists and pulled them round the back of the chair, and tied her wrists together and then to the chair itself.

'How am I supposed to write a virus now?' Fiona pouted superciliously.

'That Holo-Reader has no power. You couldn't use it even if you wanted to,' the Guard replied, annoyed with Fiona's sarcastic demeanour. He then turned to his fellow Gemini Guard. 'I'll stay here. You go report to the Control Core.' The Guard nodded and left.

'So you're what? Guarding me?' Fiona mocked him, sniggering to herself to ignore the pain her bullet wound was still giving her.

'I've been ordered to prevent you from escaping by any means possible,' he replied, standing back up and looking out the exit to the room. 'Which means I will not let your friends come and get you. Unfortunately, at least one out of the two Guards stationed here must report to the Control Core – I'm the one staying here. Since I'm a man down, I will be guarding the exit – not you.'

'Eh, still sounds like you're guarding me,' the Artist responded snarkily. The Guard simply picked up some masking tape and cut off a piece across her mouth.

'If you're not going to shut up, I'm going to make you shut up.'

Underneath the tape, Fiona was chuckling to herself.

_ Now THIS makes it easier to escape. _

* * *

Gaige, Zer0, Rhys, Axton, Aurora a platoon of fifteen Crimson Raiders trudged towards the main entrance of the Gemini Menagerie. Since its days as the Friendship Gulag, it had been extended to include two Guard towers and a triple-seal deadlocked door. The Guards had been swiftly dispatched but the deadlocked door was the issue.

When Fiona and Gaige had infiltrated it earlier, the door had only a single-seal deadlock, since that was standard protocol. Now that Gemini was being paranoid, they had employed two more seals – which Gaige had no way of passing through using her technology.

Unless, of course, she had the base-code to the whole facility.

She used her ECHO device to sync with her arm and the two databanks mixed, allowing her to access the functions of both. It took a while before she could break the multi-key encryption firewalls, but luckily, she was able to access the archive of keys using the Menagerie base-code, which made it substantially quicker to do so.

'Right! I've regained access to the Menagerie intranet,' the Mechromancer announced, reading through their files. 'Strange…Gemini's diverted most of their resources to about a klick south-south-west of our location. For some reason, they seem to think we're coming from that direction.'

'What? Why?' Axton questioned.

'It's logical to assume they sent some troops out to investigate that unknown energy reading,' Aurora deduced. 'But they wouldn't just send out half their battalion to find out, nor would they think that energy signature is us. They know Infinite energy is just as elusive to us as it is to them – apart from the fact that we know what it is.'

'But we don't know how to use it,' Gaige added, frowning in curiosity.

'Well, whatever the reason, you can't deny it's a good thing,' Rhys told them confidently. 'With Gemini distracted, it's much easier to attack this place.'

'I agree with Rhys / We may not know the reason / But it will aid us,' Zer0 concurred.

'Thanks, man!' Rhys acknowledged excitedly. The Assassin displayed a smiling face on his visor, and then a brief wink.

'Hey, fanboy!' Aurora called to him, almost sniggering when he responded to the term. 'Focus, please?'

'Er, yeah, yeah. Uh, sorry,' Rhys stumbled over his words awkwardly. He had always been a little intimidated by Aurora, probably since she helped train him a little. She always wiped the floor with him, and was the only one out of the Vault Hunters who insisted Rhys still required more training.

'While you two were squabbling, I managed to find the door locks,' Gaige scolded them. Aurora frowned at her for a second, but ultimately sighed and didn't question her definition of "squabbling". 'Unlocking…now.'

The physical locks in the door slid open quickly, creating a shunting sound before opening. Like an intricate puzzle, they opened up one by one, until finally a green bulb lit up above the entrance, signifying access.

'Unfortunately, the magnetar is on a different subsystem,' Gaige elucidated. 'It would take me hours to deactivate it to get through the trapdoor on the other side, and we don't have that kind of time.'

'It doesn't matter now,' Axton told her. 'We have access to the facility. Sneaking in would be pointless if they already knew we were coming.'

'No time like the present, then,' Gaige announced, walking up to the entrance and pressing the button on the side of the door.

The door slid open.

It revealed a row of Gemini Conquistadors before her.

'Hold it right there!' A Conquistador ordered her impertinently.

'Oh, hello there,' Gaige acknowledged casually. 'You must be an entire platoon. I love that word: platoooooon. Sounds cool, doesn't it? There's a problem with your platoon, though.' She clicked her fingers and her squadron of fifteen Raiders rushed into the Menagerie, pointing the guns at the puny seven Conquistadors. 'My one's bigger than yours.'

Gaige scratched her the back of her head curiously, glad that Salvador wasn't here to make an innuendo out of that.

'Now, I would gun you down immediately, but you probably have information on where Fiona is being held. So, to put this plainly, tell me what you know or it's a bullet to the head.'

Silence.

'Alright then, guess I'll have to find out for myself.' She nodded to the Raiders, and they fired. They were down within seconds.

'Why does that never work?' Aurora joked.

'Beats me,' the Mechromancer replied earnestly.

Sirens suddenly blared and all the lights went red. An automated message announced that the Menagerie was under attack from an XK-Class assault scenario, and that all non-soldier personnel should evacuate.

'How bad is XK-Class?' Gaige asked Aurora.

'Bad,' the Fable simply replied. 'C'mon. We need to find Fiona.'

If she was nearby, that is. If Gemini had anything to say about it, then no.

* * *

**Some interesting developments, then!**

**Amelia and Matt possess a soul bind as a result of Matt's efforts to grant her a physical body. She has do what he says, and she is only alive if Matt is alive. Some complicated Infinite science there. **

**I don't know if you guys remember the Anomalous Events that Gemini created, which are events that pertain to Matt Rye. Well, these Events include the type of energy that he releases, Infinite energy, although the corporation don't exactly understand it. The energy burst came from the teleport, obviously, but they don't recognise the differences in Infinite energy – since they know nothing of the Infinity Spectrum.**

**Gemini also has made a major misconception about Fiona that has put her ins serious danger. If she doesn't make the virus, she'll be killed, except she _can't _make the virus because she doesn't know how. **

**Oh, and as for XK-Class Assault Scenarios – let's just say it's really, really bad.**


	6. Word to the Wise

**Woah. It's been like…two weeks since the last update. Yeah, this chapter took super long to write and I also had an English presentation to do, so I had to prioritise doing that over writing. It's been really slow at the moment, but I'm trying to do it at a suitable pace. I may have planned this out, but there are still gaps where writer's block rears its ugly head.**

**As it seems, Matt is drawing ever closer to the Crimson Raiders – and meeting them again. Hope ya enjoy that, because their stories are finally going to align. **

**Hope you enjoy! It's 7k+ words.**

* * *

**6: Word to the Wise**

* * *

The Menagerie was much clearer now. Gemini had upgraded the Friendship Gulag by the looks of it; it was now much bigger. Bigger meant more weapons and more defences, which constituted a bigger threat to them.

'We're not too far from the Menagerie now,' Matt told Amelia, who was still examining the night sky. 'We'll be there very soon.'

'It's beautiful, isn't it?' Amelia inexplicably asked him. 'The night sky.'

Matt stopped for a second and looked up. He smiled.

'Yeah, it is. There's almost nothing more beautiful than the shine of the stars.'

'That's why we have to prevent the Great Monsoon. If we don't, there won't be any stars left to shine.' Matt put his arm around Amelia.

'The Enlightener wouldn't have let us go if he didn't think we could stop it,' the Anomaly counselled her.

'He's scared, Mattie. I am too. How you are so calm?' Amelia frantically queried him.

'I'm not,' the Vault Hunter harmlessly admitted. 'Truth is, I'm absolutely terrified. I have no idea what's going to happen. I don't have precognition. I thought I did, but you and I both know where that went. For all I know, we could die tomorrow and all our efforts would have been for nothing.'

'So then why aren't you paranoid?' His sister wondered bemusedly.

'Because I don't accept that ending. I won't let it happen. I believe we will live; I believe we will succeed. Call it stupid faith if you want, I call it being human.'

'That must be nice,' Amelia replied absentmindedly. 'I'm hardly human. I had to learn to be human.'

'You are human, Amy,' the Anomaly told her confidently. 'You're flesh and blood. It's going to take time to adapt, but I'm right here along with you. I helped you recuperate in the Infinite; I'm going to help you now.'

'Really?' Amelia enquired in disbelief.

'Of course,' Matt ensured her. 'Now we should get a move o – wait a minute, what the hell?!'

He looked up atop the hill to see an army of Gemini soldiers marching across the next one in the distance.

'Why are they here?' Amelia demanded worriedly. 'I know you said they would get suspicious, but I didn't think they would send half of their workforce after us!'

'If they've captured a Vault Hunter, they probably assumed that the Raiders would be coming after them,' Matt realised, becoming alarmed. 'With a squad of their troops not responding, it didn't seem like a coincidence! They think we are the Crimson Raiders!'

'How are we supposed to get around them?!' His sister enquired hysterically.

'Uh…uh…' Matt stumbled, looking around for a way out. Eventually, his eyes fell on a small house in the Old Dahlwell Oasis. 'We can hide in there.'

'How do we get there without them noticing?' Amelia wondered. 'And won't they be searching these houses?'

'No, no, look,' Matt disagreed, pointing at the house. Two Guards left the house and nodded to their superiors, before leaving it completely. 'They've already searched that one. And as for how we can get in, well I do have Chronokinesis.'

'Can't they detect your energy signature when you give it off?' Amelia reminded him.

'They're not searching for me, they're searching for the Raiders,' he pointed out. 'Come on, we don't have much time.' Matt charged up his lightning and time slowed down around him. He picked up Amelia and made his evasive manoeuvres.

He sprinted towards the small house he had seen before, feeling the lightning enhance his vitality. He was careful to go on tip-toes with long strides, so that his footprints wouldn't be evident on the sand. Matt had to be sure to stay out the way of the Gemini soldiers, since some of the shockwaves caused by his Chronokinesis wouldn't attract their attention.

Matt turned his head to Amelia. She was remarkably unfrozen.

'Hey. How you doing?' She casually asked.

'Why aren't you _frozen?'_ The Anomaly demanded suspiciously.

'Oh, _right! _I forgot to mention, I'm not affected by your Chronokinesis,' his sister elucidated, but the Anomaly still looked confused. 'Er, you know, I'm capable of tapping into specific sections of the Infinity Spectrum; it boosts your perception and sensitivity to certain Infinite energies…blah, blah, blah…Eridian science…blah, blah, blah.'

'_Right. _Any other powers I should know about?' The Anomaly probed.

'I _could _tell you_,_ but I'd rather _show _you,' Amelia replied facetiously. The Anomaly sighed and continued moving at great speeds.

Eventually, Matt reached the house and entered it hastily. Amelia gave out a few invigorated breaths.

'Whew! Now _that _was a rush,' she described excitedly. 'Do you ever get tired of that?' Matt beamed at her.

'Nope,' he replied fondly. 'Anyway, we better be quiet. We don't want to attract their attention.'

The Anomaly took out the radio he'd stolen from a Guard and listened to the broadcasts.

_'Search for Raiders in progress.'_

_ 'Have you found anything?'_

_ 'Negative. No bogeys in sight.'_

'Hmm…' Matt thought aloud. 'Maybe I can do something with this receiver.' He rummaged through his midnight blue coat and produced a screwdriver, and began manipulating the back panel.

_'Has the prisoner obliged to our demands?'_

_ 'The prisoner is in progress of writing the desired program as intended.'_

'They're getting Gaige to write a program?' Amelia picked out perplexedly. 'It could be anything. But it probably isn't good.'

'Mm,' Matt concurred, not really listening. He continued reworking the panel on the Gemini radio. 'Ah, there we go! See, you pick up a thing or two about Gemini technology when you use it enough.'

'What did you do?' His sister wondered, trying to get a closer look at the radio.

'I rewired the receiver so now it scrambles our location, rather than detecting radio waves from others.'

'Brilliant! So we can move around without being detected!'

'_Yep.'_

'And it sounds like they've passed us, too,' Amy noted. Matt nodded and walked silently to the door and opened it a crack. The wave of Gemini soldiers had passed them. He moved to the door at the other end of the room, opened it and crept out.

'C'mon, we should hurry!' The Anomaly warned her, taking her hand and sprinting towards the Menagerie. Listening to the rhythmic patterning of his feet on the ground was hypnotic for him, but Amelia remained focussed. His Chronokinesis aided in making the movement faster, even if it was rapidly draining Matt.

Eventually, Matt stopped out of exhaustion.

'We can't just _waltz _in,' Amelia told him.

'No,' the Anomaly panted. 'But…if Gemini keep to their protocol…there should be…a secondary, secret entrance.'

'That's standard protocol?' Amelia enquired in disbelief. 'Does Lima Base One have one?'

'Oh, yeah! _Five-hundred _miles from its location,' the Vault Hunter shot down. 'It didn't seem worth the walk.'

'This secret entrance…I'm assuming it'll be something obscure,' his sister deduced quickly.

'Usually.'

'And _not_ a rusting trapdoor in the ground over there?'

'What?'

He turned to where Amelia was looking. A few meters away, in the ground and covered by sand, was a square door. It was reddened by rust, and the shine, if there was one, had since gone dull and somewhat vapid. There was an orange light on the side of the worn handle, glowing brightly but blending in with the oxidized metal.

'OK, maybe _not _so hidden,' he reeled, running over to it immediately, with Amelia running after him. He tried pulling open the door, but it wouldn't budge.

'Is it rusted over?' His sister asked.

'No, these doors are too robust to rust over _completely,'_ the Vault Hunter answered, rubbing his chin in contemplation. Abruptly, he slapped his forehead. 'Oh, of course! The door's magnetised! Why didn't I realise that? There's almost _no _way getting past it.'

'"Almost"?' Amelia prompted with a smile.

'The metal is some Pobranium-Titanium Carbide, too. **(A/N: A strong metal used for defence purposes due to its capacity to withstand extreme pressure and high temperatures.)** You'd have to nuke it, _twice,_ to get past it. The metal uses a large Neodymium magnet, funnelling the magnetic force into the door. Impossible to get through. Unless you're me.'

'Again, "almost" impossible. What's the plan?'

'With enough Infinite energy, I should be able to overload the magnetic forces before the door reboots again.'

'How much?' Amelia frowned.

'Roughly…two or three…hundred megajoules…' Matt replied awkwardly, scratching his scalp and lowering the volume of his voice as he went on.

_'What?!' _His sister bellowed in complete shock. 'That'll drain you almost _completely!' _

'My lightning yields about twenty-five megawatts,' Matt calculated. 'It should take eight to twelve seconds to bypass the lock. Tier 3 Chronokinesis will be dangerous but the only option. Tier 2 doesn't release enough energy, and Tier 4 releases too _much _energy. If I can focus it, hopefully any shockwaves of Infinite energy dispersed will instead be redirected into the magnetic lock.'

'This seems dangerous,' Amelia replied, before giving a devious smirk. 'Sounds fun.'

'Now you're getting it!' Matt chuckled.

Taking in a deep breath, he activated his Chronokinesis, feeling the massive amount of energy flow through his body, along with the excess Infinite power building up. He would have to discharge it before it became too much. Carefully, the Anomaly began to redirect all of the lightning into the door, connecting with it and consuming it like flies to roadkill.

Amelia watched as his eyes leaked black energy, scaring her a little, but it slowly faded, instead redirected through his hands. Blood began to drip from his body's orifices, moving slowly down his face, alerting his sister to the strain it put on his body.

There wasn't as much blood as the last time Matt unleashed this tier of his Chronokinesis, but it was still quite a profuse volume.

After nine seconds, the light beside the handle turned green, and the sound of air rushing could be heard. Understanding that his job was done, Matt stopped channelling his Chronokinesis.

'Oh my god! Are you alright, Mattie?!' Amelia fretted, taking out a napkin and rubbing away the blood. Matt simply laughed at her perturbing.

'I'm _fine,_ Amy. Blood is blood. I've been through worse.'

'You _didn't _mention you'd start _bleeding!'_

'I assumed you knew how my Chronokinesis worked,' the Vault Hunter replied tiredly. 'It transfers my chemical energy into Infinite energy, which I use to slow down time. Use up more energy than I _have,_ then it will start to damage me.'

'I _get _that, but you made it seem so casual.'

'You were the one all like "this seems dangerous but it sounds fun."' The Anomaly pointed out.

Amelia sighed. 'Whatever. The door's open now, we might as well go.'

Matt nodded and pulled the door open, before stepping down the ladder into the tunnels. Amelia followed behind him. It was a dark tube, only lit by miniscule, yellow sodium lamps on the wall opposite the ladder itself.

The service vent shaft was welcomingly large, but not too large. It was big enough for both of them to move through it quite easily, even Matt, who was quite larger in build than his sister. He began moving through it in prone position, glad that he probably wasn't going to accidentally hit his head on the top of the vent shaft.

'Right, there're a bunch of water pipes around here,' the Anomaly noticed. 'So they're probably all leading to a filter. _That _is how we can get into the Menagerie.'

'How far?'

'It should take us a couple minutes, if we move fast enough.'

'Does Gaige have that kind of time?'

'Gaige is tough; she'll live. Besides, she's been tortured before.'

'Yeah, I remember,' Amelia responded awkwardly. 'I, uh, used her torture to communicate with you…'

'Hey, it's OK, I forgive you,' the Vault Hunter exonerated. 'Besides, strictly speaking, that was the Dreamer.'

'The Dreamer was hardly sentient. It needed a host to be operated: me. That "me" you saw after you destroyed the focusing gem was a side of me nonetheless.'

'Yeah, but you're _better _now, right?'

'Yes. But it's still a part of me.'

'That's not you anymore,' he told her earnestly. 'And if we meet the Raiders again, I'm sure they'll understand that.'

'I don't know about that,' his sister disagreed. 'I threatened to kill any one of them. I used you multiple times to get what I wanted. Can you blame them if they're _upset _about it?'

'I didn't say they wouldn't be upset,' the Vault Hunter immediately shot down. 'Just give them some time, and they will understand. That's what most of these kinds of things need: time.'

'OK,' his sister simply replied, breathing in deep through her nostril.

There was a trenchant silence between the two, as they crawled through the vents as silently as possible. They were only a few meters below the surface level of the Gemini Menagerie, so the water drainage likely wasn't far.

'So, uh, you've been to the Menagerie before, right?' Amelia hesitantly asked him.

'Yeah, back when it was the Friendship Gulag.'

'That was when Caine was going to blow it up, wasn't it?' His sister pursued carefully.

'Yeah, I was crushed under the rubble. Almost died, but I managed to crawl out of the wreckage.'

'How did you live through that?' Amelia inquired in absolute incredulity. 'The agony must've unendurable.'

'It was. My spine snapped, though, so I couldn't feel my legs – I guess that's a plus. But yeah, it was unimaginably excruciating.'

'Wait, _what?! _I didn't see what you did before you had that dream…your spine shattered?!'

'It _did, _but I'm _fine,'_ the Anomaly ensured her. 'C'mon! We're close! I think I can see the exit from here!' He elevated his pace, crawling faster but not so fast as to create too much noise. Amelia sighed and chased after him.

'How close is "close"?' She asked him between pants.

'A couple meters…we'll be dropping down…_now!' _The Anomaly announced, moments before he fell down and disappeared from Amelia's sight. Seconds afterwards, the young woman herself dropped down through another lift shaft. She resisted the urge to yell from shock.

Slowly, she lifted herself of the ground to find herself in some sort of drainage compartment. There was another passageway at the other end of the room, which seemed to have…excrement…festering at the bottom and painting the wall.

There were several other smaller pipes, with water gushing out of them into filters at the bottom. Amelia was glad they didn't have to crawl through those wet water pipes _or _the large sewage pipe opposite them.

'See? Convenient ladder over there!' The Anomaly declared quite self-assuredly, pointing over to the ladder.

'Are you done enlarging your ego?' His sister deadpanned scathingly.

'Yeah, _mostly,'_ Matt rebounded easily. He beckoned for her to follow as he climbed up the ladder.

As his head poked out the top of the manhole cover, the Anomaly carefully observed his surroundings.

'OK, so I think we're in the main barracks.' He climbed out for Amelia to see the building.

'How many of these do they _have _stationed around here?' His sister asked. She examined to entire building.

'Several. Enough to keep its sizeable prisoner count contained.'

Amelia looked around the sides of the building, frowning when she noticed something.

'And these places are really secure, right?' She asked him wearily.

'Yeah, usually – unless Gemini's been slacking,' Matt answered looking around the area of other ways out.

'So they don't usually have a huge hole in the wall, then?' Amelia continued perplexedly.

'What?' The Vault Hunter inquired bemusedly, walking over to where she was looking. She pointed at a hole in the wall a few meters down the alleyway, which had a temporary forcefield covering the whole, until Gemini had time to repair it.

Inexplicably, all the alarms to the facility went off vociferously.

'[ALERT: XK-CLASS ASSAULT SCENARIO IN PROGRESS. CODE BLUE! THE MENAGERIE IS UNDER ATTACK. ALL NON-MILITARY PERSONNEL ARE ADVISED TO GO TO THE EVACUATION SHELTER OR ANY OTHER SAFE AREA UNTIL GEMINI HAVE SUCCESSFULLY NEUTRALISED THE THREAT.]'

Amelia looked incredibly perturbed until Matt put a hand on her shoulder.

'Don't worry, I don't think that's us,' he ensured her.

'What makes you so sure?'

'Because if it _was,_ I don't think they'd classify it as an XK-Class assault scenario. I may be a _threat_ to them, but not _that _much.'

'What does "XK-Class" even mean?'

'It's the worst designation for any scenario, meaning the entire foundation of this facility is threatened. In this case, it means an _army _is attacking the Menagerie.'

'Then won't Gemini be on their guard?' Amelia suggested.

'In event of an XK-Class scenario, all secondary power is rerouted to the Central Core systems for defensive and offensive purposes. Most military personnel are required to leave their posts to aid in defence, while non-military subjects are evacuated.'

'Oh, I get it now,' his sister understood. 'That means that Gaige will be unguarded and under no surveillance.'

'Apart from the odd Guard, yes.'

'Right then, how do we find Special Containment?' The young woman asked him.

'Following the sign that says "Special Containment" tends to help,' the Anomaly responded snarkily, pointing at the sign he'd noticed. Without a moment's notice, he raced to the direction the sign was pointing. Amelia gave a dumb look for a second, before running after him.

* * *

There were hordes of Gemini soldiers. Wave after wave, they came. It seemed as though as one fell, two more appeared to take their place. Bullets were flying everywhere, and there was little movement between either sides of the onslaught.

Gaige flinched as a Conquistador rocket blew up in her face. She turned and shot through the head of the culprit with her rebranded Atlas Bitch SMG.

'Aurora! We're not advancing!' The Mechromancer yelled over to her.

'You didn't think I _noticed?!' _The Fable shrieked back.

'They're throwing _everything _they have at us!' Axton added unhelpfully. 'And this is just _half_ of their military force for this facility!'

'How many left?!' Rhys hollered at them.

Gaige took a brief second to survey the battle-torn scene before them. Deathtrap was slashing at numerous Gemini Elites, throwing them back and initiating a flurry of spinning attacks. Conquistadors formed the front row of the defence, but they were getting slowly picked off. Deceptors attempted to get through the offense, but several Raiders spotted the slight curvatures in the air and minor shimmering that were quite common with Deceptors' Invisibility Capacitors. Subsequently, many Crimson Raiders took them out quickly.

'Thirty, give or take!' The Mechromancer responded, sighing at Rhys's disheartened expression once he heard her.

'And _growing!'_ Axton observed, as Deathtrap dedigistructed. 'Anyone got any explosives left?!'

Most of the Vault Hunters shook their heads moments after searching their respective ECHOs.

'Just the one Storm Front; gotta make it count!' Aurora announced, staring at the Vladof grenade in her hand.

'Wait for them to regroup, then throw it!' The Commando ordered her. Aurora quickly moved over to where Axton was.

'Even at _max_ radius, there's no _way _I can take out _all _of them,' the Fable told him.

'_No, _but we can use it to disorientate them, then the Raiders can pick them off,' Axton suggested.

'Oh, yeah. Gemini equipment is self-sustaining, but we can short it out for a few moments.'

'Exactly.'

'How are we gonna get them to regroup?' Rhys inquired confoundedly. 'No wait, maybe if we charge, it'll force them to change their position.'

'Maybe you're not as dumb as you look, Rhys,' the Fable complimented, smiling.

'You can argue that's both a good plan _and _a dumb plan,' Gaige laughed, as Deathtrap had finished repairing. Her robot was ready to digistruct. '_But_ Deathtrap's ready to go, so that will make it easier.'

'This could just reduce / Our total attacking force / And make this harder,' Zer0 advised them.

'It's either we _do _something, or we remain locked in an endless stalemate,' the Commando quarrelled with slight vexation.

'It's now or never,' Aurora declared, looking around at her fellow Vault Hunters and remaining Raiders. '_Charge!'_

Immediately after the Fable gave the command, the Raiders nodded and broke out of their cover. They raced towards the legion of Gemini soldiers bravely but also wildly, like headless chickens. Despite how they seemed, though, they managed to pick off several of the Gemini personnel before the opposition could respond.

Once their Raider soldiers provided them cover, the Vault Hunters departed from theirs and began firing towards the soldiers. Gaige summoned Deathtrap at them; Axton threw down his trust turret, providing his allies with a shield; Zer0 threw down his hologram to sneak behind Gemini lines; Aurora took out her Eridium revolver and made several well-placed shots; and Rhys used his ECHOeye to determine the best path.

'Finally, some movement!' Gaige celebrated excitedly.

_She's not usually THIS excitable, _Aurora observed amusingly. _That's a welcome change. _

'Fall back and regroup!' A Gemini Elite Commander ordered them. The squadron of Gemini began to fall back, and move together, now doubt to formulate a more aggressive form of defence.

'Aurora, _now!'_ The Commando called, and the Fable nodded in compliance. She threw the Storm Front into the fray, towards the group of Gemini soldiers. It was a Longbow grenade, so it reached them immediately. **(A/N: Personally, I think Longbow (+Sticky) is the only deployment method that should exist – apart from maybe Lobbed. Rubberized is too difficult to use and Homing takes too long to hit a target. Longbow is by far the most effective and versatile.)**

The radius encompassed several of the Gemini soldiers, electrocuting them and stopping them in their tracks. The child grenades extended and caught the rest. They froze in place and convulsed from the torrents of electricity surging through their bodies.

Ultimately, the Raiders were able to pick off the Gemini soldiers, one by one. Eventually, only a few remained.

'Looks like we're getting somewhere!' Rhys announced victoriously.

Disconcertingly, all the lights shut off in the facility, and the only thing lighting the facility now was their own ECHO devices and the flashlights on their guns. All the doors to all containment, opened, and the prisoners escaped, causing a major distraction for the Crimson Raiders and allowing them to pick off even more.

'What the hell's going on?!' Aurora demanded confoundedly.

'[SYSTEM LOCKDOWN PROCESS: ENTERING EMERGENCY POWER.]'

'System: activate Alpha Contingency Protocol!' A high-ranking Guard Commander addressed desperately.

'[RECOGNISED: GUARD COMMANDER, 362.]

'[INITIATING ALPHA CONTINGENCY PROTOCOL.]

'[DIGISTRUCTING ITEM DESIGNATED, "PEST CONTROL".]'

There was a blue light before the Guard Commander, before an object digitised before him. It was round, bronze and biconcave. It had a button in the centre, which was red and glowing.

'Alpha Contingency?!' Aurora yelled out in disbelief. 'Don't let them activate that device!'

'What the hell is it?' Axton demanded, trying to get through the last five Gemini soldiers to get to the device.

'It's a bomb. A kamikaze bomb!' The Fable elaborated worriedly. 'It'll take a _mile _of this base with ease! Stop them!'

'Oh no you don't,' The Guard Commander murmured, as the device charged up fully.

The commander pressed the button.

Fiona saw her opening rather quickly. When the Guard looked away, she got to work trying to shake her switchblade out of her coat pocket. Eventually, she succeeded and she managed to catch it between her.

Now, she just had to pass it through the gaps in her chair. With her hands bound. And with concentration despite the searing pain, which her bullet wound was still providing her.

Carefully, Fiona leant down and caught her knife between her teeth. She managed to slip it through the gaps in her chair, allowing her nail-file-disguised pocket knife to drop into her hands. She flipped open the blade inside.

Hastily, she began wearing away at the rope.

Luckily, Fiona had remembered to sharpen the blade the previous morning, so it was quicker than it otherwise would've been. She wouldn't be a con artist with a blunt knife. Her blade cut through the rope with a blind man's precision, but Fiona was confident that it wouldn't matter.

She was proven correct as the rope dropped the floor, leaving her hands completely unbound.

_And the Guard hasn't noticed! _Fiona rejoiced in her head. She took out her hairpin and slowly inserted both it and the knife into the lock. Every few seconds, the Artist looked back to the Guard to make sure he hadn't noticed.

Eventually, the thick metal cuffs came off, almost dropping to the ground with a loud clank – though Fiona was quick enough to catch it before it did. She got to work on other one, as the sound of gunshots got louder and louder, and closer and closer.

After what felt like hours, the second cuff unlocked. Fiona paused to revel in the feeling of freedom. She looked towards the Guard.

He was too absorbed in shooting at…something…to pay attention to her.

_Must be the Raiders, _Fiona assumed, glad they had come to save her. The Artist picked up a wrench from one of the shelves, and crept towards the Guard.

Determined, the Vault Hunter was about to whack the Guard over the top of the head, when everything went wrong.

Abruptly, four or five Guards barged through the door, knocking the latter Guard out of the way. They pointed their guns up at their "prisoner".

'What _exactly _do you think you're doing, Vault Hunter?' One of them, presumably the Commander, asked her disdainfully. He turned to the latter Guard with beady eyes. 'You were meant to be _guarding _this prisoner, captain! Now, we've been ordered to transport this prisoner, because of _your _failure.'

'Y-yes, I _was_ guarding her, commander,' the Gemini Captain replied reticently. 'B-But Special Containment became under attack, so I had to defend it.'

'There's an _XK-Class _assault scenario taking place, and you're just here, _loitering?!' _Another Guard criticised, but the Commander waved a hand at him to shut up.

'Defend it from _what?!' _He bellowed at the captain, gesturing out into the surroundings. 'There's _no one _here!'

'There _was, _I swear! I couldn't get a clear visual, but I'm _certain!' _The Captain argued with evident nervousness. He looked like a scared child under angry parents.

'I don't have time for _excuses,'_ the Commander disregarded, turning his attention to Fiona once again. 'Now then, _Miss_, if you'd allow us to escort you to Heavy Containment, then things don't have to get _bloody.'_ In sequence, the other Guards prepped their guns and held them up to her head imposingly.

Reluctantly, Fiona put her hands up. She sighed pointedly.

One of the Gemini Guards approached her to cuff her again, but the Artist punched him and placed him into a headlock. She took his gun and pointed it at the remaining Guards.

'Who's next?!' Fiona taunted.

'Vault Hunter, you _know_ you have no way out of this,' the Commander warned her. 'You fire _one _shot, and we riddle you with a _dozen.' _

'And then you've both down a man _and _lost your chance to destroy the Raiders,' Fiona pointed out.

'We have multiple methods for destroying the Crimson Raiders, I am certain you know that _already,'_ the Commander countered categorically. 'And as for soldiers, well, each and every one of us would be _honoured _to give our lives for Gemini. Losing _one _man is hardly a tragedy; it's merely a statistic.'

Fiona gave no response, aside from a disgusted grimace.

'Alright, then. _Fire.'_

The Guards pulled the trigger, and Fiona was under the impression she would die. However, something happened.

There were crashes of lightning about the room, destroying the bulbs in the lights, even while they had been shut down to emergency power. Torrents of wind blew in less than a second, and Fiona struggled to remain standing.

Inexplicably, all the Gemini Guards were thrown about the sizeably large room, hitting the walls with a sickening crunch. The Guard that Fiona had in a headlock was violently thrown out her hands, causing the Artist to trip and fall.

Nonplussed and unbalanced, Fiona attempted to look up through her murky vision. There were two figures before her, however she could only distinguish them as two inky blots.

_'Hmm…not Gaige, but definitely a Vault Hunter,' _one of them described.

_ 'So worth freeing?' _The other one asked.

_'Well, she's not an enemy, that's for sure,' _he responded, as Fiona's sight began to clear up.

Slowly, she began to differentiate their features.

One of them was tall, six-foot two, and wearing a midnight coat that had padding around the shoulders. His trousers were slightly darker, more like cargo pants, and thoroughly worn from use. Underneath the coat was a military style black shirt, complete with cotton flecks on the outside. **(A/N: Think like Roland's shirt, but black.)** She could see visible padding over that too, a sort of exoskeleton of armour to protect the user from even the most forceful of blows.

His hair was a chestnut brown, accompanied with flecks of blonder, golden hair mixed in between. The strands looked dishevelled, as if neglected for a while and only attempted to be tended to recently.

Strangely, the man seemed really familiar.

Though, it was his eyes that really caught her attention. They were like nothing Fiona had ever seen before. Gold and shining, they were, however evoking some kind of welcoming trust. They had some uncanny age behind them, especially for someone who seemed younger than her, like there was some untold wisdom lying before them that no one had ever seen before.

Everything about the man's eyes was complex for such a simple construct. They told a story of tragedy, victory, defeat, love and some otherworldly understanding.

Fiona was so encapsulated by his eyes that she didn't see the younger woman next to him.

The woman, who looked no older than twenty, was wearing some sort of alien work uniform. She had a casual shirt, grey and lined with thin black strokes. She had a large grey square on the side, where Fiona guessed her nametag was meant to go. Over it, she wore a red cardigan, which seemed to starting to get too small for her, and it was so worn it must've been several years old.

Her hair was lighter than her ally's; her eyes seemed younger but much more alien in their strange purple pigment.

'Hi there, you alright?' The man asked her, leaning in with his hand to help him up. Once he appeared closer in her vision, the Artist realised who he was.

Fiona's eyes went wide.

'Wait a minute,' she requested, disconcerting him with her response. 'You're…you're…' The man crossed his arms.

**Matt Rye the Anomaly**

_Hey, slowpoke!_

Her eyes briefly shifted to the young woman beside him. She still didn't know who _she _was.

**…and his sister, Amelia**

_(Doesn't like puns)_

Matt rose an eyebrow.

'You're Matt Rye!' The woman recognised in complete shock.

'In the flesh,' the Anomaly replied, helping her up off the cold ground. He turned to Amelia and quietly murmured, 'I didn't know I was famous.'

'Are you honestly _that _surprised?' His sister muttered back.

'B-But…you're dead…' the prisoner continued in utter incredulity.

'Well I was, in a manner of speaking,' the Anomaly explicated casually. 'And you would be…?'

'R-Right, uh, I'm Fiona,' Fiona enlightened them. 'The Artist.'

'Ooh, "the Artist". I like that title,' the Anomaly complimented her.

'Really?' Fiona wondered excitedly.

'_Yeah!' _Matt agreed, almost wincing as Fiona squealed for second, before coughing awkwardly and trying to maintain her composure. 'Uh, well, I'm the Anomaly, and that's my sister, Amelia, over there. She doesn't have a title.' Amelia frowned.

'I don't _do _"titles",' she deadpanned. Fiona still looked frozen in delight. Matt waved a hand in front of her to snap her out of it.

'S-sorry, uh, it's just…I kinda…_idolised you,'_ Fiona admitted, gulping slightly. She'd never really told anyone that. 'You're sort of a legend around the Crimson Raiders.'

'"Legend"?' The Vault Hunter scoffed, chuckling at the description. 'Uh, _no._ I'd barely settle for _hero.'_

'Well, Gaige always spoke highly of you.'

'Oh, right! Gaige! How could I forget?' Matt slapped his head at his own stupidity. 'Is she here? I heard over the radio that they were forcing some Vault Hunter tech expert to write some sort of program in Special Containment.'

'Um, they were talking about me,' the Artist explained vaguely. 'It was a mix-up. I think they thought _I _was like _Gaige.'_

'How did they manage to do _that?!'_ Amelia asked inquisitively.

'It's a long story.'

Fiona began to explain exactly how they got to this moment. How Lilith had assigned her this mission with Gaige; how they infiltrated the Menagerie whilst they were on low security; how they were almost captured stealing information from a Holo-Reader; how they were found when Fiona blew a hole in the wall; all of it.

When the Artist came around to mentioning the ESDD, the Anomaly frowned.

'What's an ESDD?' He enquired.

'Emergency Spatial Displacement Device,' Fiona elucidated. 'It allows the user to move through space in event of an emergency.'

'I guess Gemini's been _real busy _while we were gone,' the anomalous Vault Hunter supposed. 'So if Gaige gave _you _the device, why did _you _stay and _she _teleported away?'

'Gaige had to rewire it under pressure; it failed and it teleported her instead of me. She wanted _me _to get away, but I ended up _here _instead.'

'Ah, just like Gaige to want to sacrifice herself,' Matt mused aloud, turning to his sister. 'The Enlightener wasn't kidding when he spoke so seriously about the Human Factor.'

Fiona then started to explain her predicament with writing a virus and her attempts to escape, but she cried out in pain when her bullet wound flared up once more. She was distracted by her idol's sudden appearance to realise that it still hurt even while it had mostly clotted.

'Ouch, bullet wound,' Amelia seethed, gritting her teeth at imagining how much it must've hurt.

'Amy, guard the exit.'

'With _what?!' _She demanded, but he ignored her.

'Don't worry, I carry bandages and hypos _all the time,'_ Matt ensured her, catching her before she could fall to the ground.

Digging through his pockets, the Anomaly produced two hypos and a roll of bandages.

'This will hurt a bit.'

He injected the hypos, and Fiona jammed her jaw shut from the pain. Matt smiled as the red liquid injected into her and he began wrapping the bandage around her leg.

'See? No more pain?' The Vault Hunter told her, beaming at her.

'Thanks,' Fiona acknowledged, still not quite believing that Matt Rye was right in front of her.

'No thanks needed,' the Anomaly responded modestly. 'A friend of Gaige is a friend of mine. Besides, we Vault Hunters gotta stick together.'

'I don't understand, though,' the Artist confessed. 'How are you alive?'

'Do you know what the Infinite is?' Matt asked her. Fiona frowned.

'No.'

Matt sighed at no one in particular.

'Well, in _that _case, let's just say I wasn't killed _physically,'_ Matt explained cryptically. Fiona opened her mouth to ask more question but the Anomaly shushed her. 'I'll explain later. Right now, we need to find the Crimson –'

'Freeze!' A voice demanded from outside. Finishing up with her bandages, Matt got up to see who it was.

Another squadron of Guards.

'Take another step and you're _dead!' _

Matt put his hand out to charge his Chronokinesis, but Amelia stopped him.

'I got this one,' she told him unhelpfully. His sister stepped forward and her arms began to glow red.

'M-Matt. Her arms are glowing!' Fiona stated, rather obviously.

'_Yep, _she does that,' Matt replied, narrowing his eyes at her glowing arms. '_Red. _I know that one.'

* * *

_'Red is the colour you use. It is responsible for controlling the timestream, either by and large or selectively,' _the Enlightener had taught him. _'You expel that energy, and that is what allows you to control time.'_

_ 'And the black energy?'_ Matt had asked.

_'It allows you to sustain the rigours of Chronokinesis at boosted capacities. Eventually, the energy you need for it becomes too high. This twin side allows you to control it.'_

_ 'So without it…?'_

_ 'You would likely cause severe damage to your body.'_

* * *

From a simple observation, Amelia was using the same amount of energy as he did when using Chronokinesis at Tier 2, and there was no black energy in sight.

Matt stepped forward to stop her, but then he noticed what Amelia was actually doing.

Slowly, the Gemini soldiers began to shrivel up, their muscle mass becoming notably smaller and their skulls becoming more prominent. Eventually, the muscle wore away completely, and the eyes rotted away in their sockets.

The Guards dropped to the ground, now nothing more than a pile of useless bones and armour.

Amelia stopped, and stumbled back, unable to maintain the ability for long. Matt caught her.

'I _really _need to ask you about those powers later,' the Anomaly noted to her.

'Where's the…fun in that?' Amelia challenged, exhausted from the amount of energy she just used.

'What _was _that? Isolated control of particular timestreams?' Matt interrogated. His sister weakly nodded.

'I can…age people…or regress them back to embryos…'

'OK, I _think_ you need to catch your breath,' Matt told her, before turning her attention back to Fiona. 'Fiona, can you guard the entrance?'

'Not without my ECHO.'

'Individuals taken to Special Containment have their equipment stored in the same room as them, in case said individual requires them at any point.'

'Where exactly do they keep it?' The Artist inquired. Matt looked the around the room and eventually found a small cabinet, which he used his Chronokinetic lightning to force open.

'Right…I'm guessing this ECHO is yours?' Matt guessed, passing it to her. She nodded and took out a non-elemental Lyuda.

'OK, if I can use the Holo-Reader, I _might _be able to –' He stared blankly at the depowered computer screen, before stepping back and gesturing manically at it. 'Oh, of _course! _It's an XK-Class assault scenario, all the power's been diverted to the main Control Core! Dammit!'

'Well how do we _fix_ it?' The Artist prompted.

'I-I need some sort of…_auxiliary _power – powerful enough to withstand use for a few minutes, tops. Oh, but my lightning's too volatile!'

'Use my ECHO; it's at full charge,' Fiona suggested hopefully.

'You'll be without your ECHO systems!' Matt disagreed. 'You'll have no way of monitoring your ammo, health, shields _or _surroundings!'

'_You _look like you're doing just _fine _without an ECHO,' Fiona pointed out.

'Well, I'm…_me!_ In case you missed it, I have _superpowers!'_

'I'll be fine. Besides, your sister over there has superpowers too.'

'Ugh, what is it with Vault Hunters and selflessness?' Matt moaned, disregarding thoughts about Caine or Violet, who were the main exceptions. '_Fine. _It's not like we've got any other options here.'

Fiona tossed him her ECHO, and he began rewiring the Holo-Reader to reroute power from the ECHO, rather than the mains. He smiled when the holographic display loaded up before him.

Matt searched through the Menagerie local intranet, trying to find the controls to the facility. Unfortunately, he came to a crashing stop.

'Oh! For fuck's sake!' He susurrated angrily.

'What's the problem _now?!'_ Amelia demanded, annoyed at his frustrations.

'In order to control _anything _in the facility without administrator privileges, I need the Menagerie base-code!' He complained, rubbing his forehead in annoyance.

'No, no, _no: _Gaige managed to copy the data files from the Menagerie onto my ECHO. She got the base-codes already!' Fiona reassured him. The Anomaly instantly grinned.

'Thank you Gaige!' He celebrated, connecting to the ECHO and using the base-codes copied into its storage data. 'Ha, ha, I am _brilliant!'_

'What did you do?' Fiona asked.

'I shut down the entire network. Within a few minutes, the whole facility will be in lockdown.'

'In other words, he means we can escape now,' Amelia simplified helpfully.

'Great!' Fiona beamed, as Matt got out his chair and directed for her to leave, throwing the Vault Hunter her ECHO on the way out.

'We don't have much time!' The Anomaly told them. 'We only have a few minutes before the doors lock down!' He took the lead as he ran along the roads, avoiding the shut-down automated vehicles in the middle of them. Fiona and Amelia followed close behind.

'[SYSTEM LOCKDOWN PROCESS: ENTERING EMERGENCY POWER.]'

'That's the first stage,' Matt told them, as they moved through the facility to find where the battle was going on. It _had _to be the Crimson Raiders.

'[INITIATING ALPHA CONTINGENCY PROTOCOL.]

'Oh no,' Matt gulped, diverting his direction to the source of the speaker.

'[DIGISTRUCTING ITEM DESIGNATED, "PEST CONTROL".]'

'What's the Alpha Contingency Protocol?' Fiona and Amelia asked in near unison.

'Bad news.'

Eventually, they found the source of the conflict. The Crimson Raiders versus Gemini. Gemini was being eliminated by Raiders accompanied by…

'Gaige?!' Matt called out, but caught himself before he yelled. He could see Axton, Zer0, Aurora and a man wearing an expensive suit leading the opposition.

Then he saw the Guard Commander with the activation device. He saw his fingers bend down to activate it.

'No!' Matt exclaimed, although too far from them to be heard. He held out a hand, as lightning began to crack around him.

Then time began to stop.

* * *

**Yes, kill me for a cliff-hanger. Maybe I _am _using them a bit too much…**

**But anyway, Matt's back, and in the nick of time. I thought about him meeting Gaige first, but I rewrote it for Fiona to captured instead, since I thought that would be a better dynamic. And she idolises him a little, too. She's gotten quite immature from being around Rhys.**

**First mention of Violet since the last story. You might be wondering, "what does that matter?" Well, wouldn't you like to know where she is?**


	7. For Whom the Bell Tolls

**So, it's certainly been a while. Multiple weeks since the last update. My life's gotten busier and I've been more concerned about my revision for school than writing. Not to worry though!**

**I _have _managed to find time to write in the midst of all of it. I have all the events of the story planned out, however getting from A to B is the harder bit. I sometimes get writer's block in those parts. The cliff-hanger of the last chapter is perhaps unforgivable, though.**

**This chapter is _very _long. One of the longest I've ever written because it jumps perspective a few times between the main characters: Gaige and Matt. While it's not a full change, it takes time to focus on their points of view. Deborah also gets a bit of focus, too. This chapter would have been _even _longer, but I had to split it up, lest it reach 10k words, which I deem too long from one chapter since my chapters are on average ~5k.**

**Here it is, though!**

* * *

**7: For Whom the Bell Tolls**

* * *

Gaige closed her eyes when the Guard Commander pressed the red button. The big, red button. A big, red button that _glowed._

Could you be more obnoxious?

The Mechromancer supposed these thoughts probably shouldn't be the last things on her mind at the end of her life. However, Gaige had faced certain death before, and had already died once, so perhaps being faced with it didn't affect her as much as it probably should.

Gaige kept waiting. She kept waiting to feel nothing; for all her senses to be cut off and find infinite darkness.

But it wouldn't come.

She could still hear the air whistling in her ears; the trudging of boots on the ground; the faint sirens in the background.

Slowly, she opened her eyes again. All the Vault Hunters had closed their eyes as well, and had begun opening them at the same rate as her. The Crimson Raiders were frozen in place, as were the Gemini soldiers in front of them.

To make matters worse, the bomb had indeed gone off. The explosion was frozen in state of expanding; a big ball of fire and sparks. It wasn't getting any bigger.

_But how can it freeze? Has time stopped? _Gaige wondered, slowly getting off her feet to observe the scene.

'What the fuck's going on?' Aurora demanded, trying to get a closer look at the explosion.

'It's like time's stopped…' Axton supposed. 'But not for us.'

'This is _weird,'_ Rhys said, manipulating the surroundings. 'Time has only stopped for the soldiers. Look.'

It was true: the lights were still dulling and the wind was still blowing. Some of the red lights were flashing still, and they could see Rakk circling in the air high in the sky.

'Wait,' Gaige suddenly halted. 'There's only _one _person who can control _time.'_

She looked to her left, and saw the figures in the near distance, despite how dark it was getting. One of them had a source of light, coming from their arm.

'Amelia, reverse the timeline,' one of the figures ordered to another, to which she nodded. She held out a hand and it began to glow red, and then the explosion began to reverse. It got smaller and smaller until it disappeared from existence.

The original, bronze activation device fell to the floor, unused.

Now, the Vault Hunters could kill off the remaining five Gemini soldiers.

Eventually, they could finally distinguish the figures as they got closer.

It was Matt, standing right there with Fiona and his sister. He looked only slightly dishevelled, as if it had only been a few days since he had left into the Infinite, rather than a few _years. _

He seemed to be just as surprised as they were at his new ability to selectively slow or freeze time, however Matt was better at hiding it.

'_Matt!' _Gaige called in utter shock and delight. She practically squealed as she ran over to him, with tears in her eyes.

'Oh my god…' Aurora could only manage to say, throwing her hands to her mouth in astonishment. Tears began forming in her eyes just like Gaige.

'Matt as in, Matt _Rye?' _Rhys asked in disbelief, to which he received avid nods. '_Oh…'_

Matt ran towards Gaige as she sprinted down the road. He smiled as he chased after her, although the Mechromancer still couldn't quite believe it. Gaige kept her pace because she didn't want him to be a mere hallucination, or because he may disappear right before her.

Once they made contact, Gaige immediately pulled down on Matt's neck and pressed her lips against his. The Anomaly, taken by surprise, stumbled to suck in air through his nose.

The other Vault Hunters grimaced slightly at the embrace, with Aurora in particular looking away in minor disgust.

Eventually, Gaige let go of his lips, but continued to hold on to him.

'I missed you,' Gaige told him, half between tears.

'I missed you too,' Matt replied. Brusquely, the Mechromancer pulled off and began hitting him hard on his arm with her metal one.

'Where _were _you?! I waited for you! For _four years! _Where the hell have you been?'

Matt sighed. He expected her to be angry.

'I've been negotiating my leave from the Infinite,' the Vault Hunter replied. 'The Enlightener didn't want me to leave yet; trust me, I wanted to. It took _ages _to convince him.'

'But he said you'd come back eventually!' Gaige recollected pointedly.

'Yeah, "eventually",' Matt pointed out. 'The deal _didn't _include trying to stop the war. The Enlightener is insistent that it's inevitable, so he wanted me to send me in late into the conflict.'

'How would _that _cut our losses?' Gaige critiqued annoyedly.

'That's what I told _him,'_ Matt agreed.

'And since _when _did you learn to manipulate time for specific targets?!'

'Just now. I didn't really know I could.'

'[SYSTEM LOCKDOWN PROCESS: WITHDRAWING GEMINI FORCES].'

'Matt! Didn't you say we have only a few _minutes?!' _Fiona reminded him worriedly.

'Oh, yeah…right,' Matt remembered, running to the group of Vault Hunters and Crimson Raiders.

'Matt, how did you –' Aurora began.

'Sorry 'Ora, not _now!' _Matt dismissed hastily. 'We need to get out of here! The whole facility is entering lockdown!'

'And _why _is it entering lockdown?!' Axton demanded, aware that the time for greetings was not now.

'Because I messed around with the Menagerie system interface,' the Vault Hunter responded.

'Yeah, he decided to shut down the facility so the Raiders could commandeer it,' Amelia explained, appearing beside Rhys.

'Ah!' He jumped. 'Who are _you?!'_

'Oh, I'm Amelia. I'm Matt's sister.'

'Hold down, Matt Rye has a _sister?!' _Rhys yelled.

'What's _his _problem?' Matt asked Gaige bemusedly.

'Well, he's only ever heard about you from other people. Rhys has never met you in person, so no wonder he's freaking out.'

'Hey Matt?' Axton called. Matt turned to look at him. 'Is Amelia…you know…safe to be around?'

'Don't worry, she's not evil,' the Anomaly ensured, as they ran towards the exit.

'Hey, I was never evil to begin with!' Amelia argued. 'That was the Infinite talking!'

'Whatever,' Axton lazily retorted, groaning a little at her complaint.

'Curiosity / Only serves to kill the cat / Don't get distracted,' Zer0 advised them sternly.

'[SYSTEM LOCKDOWN PROCESS: THE EAST SECTOR OF THE FACILITY HAS BEEN LOCKED DOWN.]'

'And within a minute, so will the rest of the facility,' Matt warned them.

'Why doesn't the system lockdown process lock all areas of the facility _first?'_ Rhys pointed out.

'Standard procedure to allow Gemini personnel to escape the facility before lockdown,' Aurora explained.

'But what about the prisoners that are running _riot?!' _Gaige exclaimed.

'The system lockdown procedures are only meant to be authenticated by the _administrator,'_ the Fable replied, shooting a mildly annoyed look at Matt. 'It's under the impression that all prisoners have been escorted from the facility!'

'[SYSTEM LOCKDOWN: THE WEST SECTOR OF THE FACILITY HAS BEEN LOCKED DOWN.]'

'Get that door open!' Axton ordered his troops, who rushed forward for the door crowbar it open. The light above the door scanned them and went red, claiming access was denied. They kept trying, but the same result reoccurred several times over.

'How are we supposed to get past the door?!' Rhys worried nervously.

'Maybe we can overload it,' Aurora suggested.

'Matt, do you think you can produce enough lightning to overload it?' The Mechromancer asked the Anomaly.

'Probably,' Matt agreed, charging up his lightning, which crackled against the door mechanisms. Time began to slow around him the more he charged it up, manipulating the space-time continuum. The Anomaly could feel the jolts of electricity flowing through his body, causing slight spasms in his arm.

'How much longer is this going to take, Mattie?' Amelia grumbled, groaning at his efforts.

'Hey, from _their _point of view, this is taking less than a _nanosecond,'_ Matt refuted, consistently zapping the door sensor with his Chronokinetic lightning. After what felt like eternity, the door light went green and it shuddered open. The Anomaly ceased using his Chronokinesis.

'[FACILITY ENTERING COMPLETE LOCKDOWN IN T-MINUS…15 SECONDS.]'

'C'mon, we gotta go!' Matt yelled over the computer system, and the Crimson Raiders and Vault Hunters all collectively ran out of the Menagerie before the door could close. Matt departed last with Amelia beside him.

'[ALERT: FACILITY IN COMPLETE LOCKDOWN.]'

'That was…uh…that was close,' Matt stuttered, tripping over his words awkwardly. Aurora looked at him with mild annoyance, before walking over to him and locking him in a bone-crushing hug.

'I _knew _you'd come back. I just _knew,'_ the Fable mumbled in his arms.

'That's…_great, _'Ora…but I…can't…_breathe,'_ he warned her through with the last of his breath.

'Oh, sorry.' She promptly let go so Matt could breathe again.

'It's great to have you back,' Axton added, slapping him on the back amiably.

'An ally returns / This is most favourable / Times are set to change,' Zer0 agreed, displaying a thumbs-up on his black visor.

'Uh, yes, it's, uh, nice to meet you, Mr Rye,' Rhys addressed formally, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. He held out a hand to greet him. Instead, Matt put a welcoming hand on his shoulder.

'Just call me Matt,' he replied warmly, beaming at him. Rhys looked somewhat disconcerted.

'But…you're my commanding officer, _and _you're supposed to be a living legend…'

'"Living legend"? I'm a _human being,_ just like you, Rhys,' the Anomaly laughed, ridiculing the name. 'And as for that "commanding officer" bullshit, there's no need to be so formal and impersonal.'

'Um, if you say so, _Matt,'_ the Corporate concurred timidly, struggling to maintain eye contact.

'Anyway, I suppose it's time I return to Sanctuary,' the Vault Hunter backpedalled. Gaige nodded formally. Matt went to take her hand, but the Mechromancer intentionally moved it away and turned towards the vehicles in the distance.

'We have our vehicles parked over there,' she informed him, pointing to the Runners in the near distance. The group of Crimson Raider and Vault Hunters began their trek towards their vehicles.

'So, how did you know to come here?' Gaige inquired to her inquisitively.

'_Long _story, most of which I'll tell you when we get back,' Matt responded. 'But, to cut it short, the Watcher sent me.' Gaige froze.

'The _Watcher?!' _The Vault Hunter repeated. 'Was _she _the one who got you out of the Infinite?'

'Esog certainly helped,' Matt confirmed. 'She used Infinite energy to teleport me. Good thing I found the…'

'The what?'

'I'll show you when we get back,' the Anomaly waved off. 'I'll tell you what, though: it was difficult to get through the Menagerie without any weapons.'

'Right, that reminds me!' Gaige recalled, searching through her pockets. Eventually, she found his ECHOear and handed it to him. 'I had a feeling you'd come. Gemini reported an Anomalous Event, so I figured there was a chance it was you, so I brought it with me.'

'But I gave you this to help with your ECHO broadcasts!' He objected outright.

'I'll manage. Me _and _my one-hundred thousand subscribers,' the Mechromancer assured him kindly as Matt's eyes widened.

'One-hundred _thousand?!'_

'Yep. The ECHOear unit _really _helped.' Matt's eyes went downtrodden. 'B-But _trust me,_ I'll be OK. Besides, I can borrow it if I _really _need it.'

Matt sighed, giving up, and picked up the ECHOear. He pressed the button the side to activate it and putting it on his ear.

* * *

**_/ /_ _ECHO_Ear initialising…_**

_ / / Loading … 100%_

_ / / Ammo display … 100%_

**_ / / Running diagnostics program…_**

_ / **/ Health scan complete.**_

_ / __/ **All bodily functions nominal.**_

**_ / / Shields display … 100%_**

_ /** / Capacity: 717,323**_

**_/ / Cyber Security Protocol initialising…_**

_ / **/ Scan complete. No issues found.**_

_/ / Loading inventory selection…100%_

* * *

His HUD loaded successfully, providing him some relief that it didn't have a virus. His health was at about half, and his shields were at full capacity. He searched his inventory, and found all of his weapons and equipment completely intact.

'You…you kept all my gear,' he observed in complete surprise.

'Before we left for the Menagerie mission, I went into the storage vaults and took out your weapons.'

'Vaults? Sanctuary has vaults?'

'A lot of things have changed in the last four years,' The Mechromancer informed him somewhat nostalgically.

'Hey, it's been a long time for _me _too,' Matt refuted light-heartedly, before suddenly dropping his cheerful expression in favour of a darker one. 'A _really _long time.'

'You alright, Matty?' Aurora asked before Gaige could, noticing his behaviour.

'Hm? Yeah, I'm fine.'

'Well, in that case, we should go then.' Gaige climbed into the driver's seat of her personal Runner vehicle. Matt nodded and clambered into the turret. Amelia climbed into Aurora's awkwardly, as the Fable looked at her disconcertedly.

'What?' Amelia demanded exasperatedly.

'Nothing,' Aurora lied. 'Sorry, it's just…the last time we spoke, you tried to kill us.'

'I'm not the Dreamer,' Amelia insisted. 'We're not the same person. I'm the Amelia that Matt knew _before_ I became its host.'

'Right, sorry.'

'You ready to come home?' Axton asked Matt, as he started his Runner.

'Absolutely.'

From the moment Matt materialised in Sanctuary, he knew everything had changed.

The walls of Pierce Station had been cleaned, refurbished and coated with a new layer of cream paint. Gone were the flimsy posters on the wall, now replaced with holographic boards and neat frames around laminated awards. While still the room was same size, more safes and chests had been placed inside, so it didn't feel as empty as before.

All of the windows were now suitably polished, rather than left to collect dust. They were no longer completely transparent, and were instead translucent and patterned like fragmented sections fitting together neatly.

Even the fast travel machine was modified, with all new red paint aps to match the Crimson Raider owners. The Hyperion logo had been completely scratched out, meticulously, just to erase the memory of the corporation.

And this was just one room.

'Wow, you guys really _did_ _up_ the place,' Matt gawped, looking around the place.

'Where'd the rest of the Raider soldiers go?' Amelia inquired with an eyebrow risen.

'They probably returned to Karabraxis,' Aurora presumed, receiving only blank faces from the two. 'It's the capital of the Crimson Raiders. It used to be owned by Hyperion before we took it over.'

'So what's Sanctuary for?' The Anomaly asked.

'Vault Hunter HQ, mainly,' Gaige elucidated. 'However, many citizens decided to stay when we offered them a place in Chrysanthia.'

Yet again, they received blank faces.

'It's the leisure hive of the Raiders on Pandora,' Axton explained for them. 'Citizens chose to live there to be catered for better than Sanctuary can.'

'My sister lives there,' Fiona added absentmindedly, playing with her thumbs.

'Well, you certainly took my advice when I said expand your horizons,' Matt replied, awestruck at the Raiders' achievements.

'C'mon, we'll introduce you to the crowd,' Gaige offered, taking his hand and leading him out the nearest door.

'Uh, Gaige, I'm not sure it's such a good idea to…' he tried to object, but his voice trailed off while the Mechromancer dragged him out. She recoiled her hand as soon as they exited the building.

As they moved out the door, Matt was met with a crowd, indeed. A crowd of people moving through Sanctuary on their own arbitrary jobs, seeking to finish their mundane tasks.

Looking out onto the horizon, Matt could see that Sanctuary had doubled in size, with twice the length and twice the width. There were more buildings, more districts; there was more of, well, everything. Everything had been notably refurbished, no longer looking amateur or cheap; they now seemed clean and the result of pure expertise, and also reached taller heights than before.

The wind blew peacefully, although the idle chatter from busy Raiders disrupted it and entered Matt's ears intrusively. Everyone moved in patterned steps, routinely walking the same distance they did the previous day, and would likely do the next.

Then, brusquely, there was a sharp sound of something smashing.

Matt instantly looked to his left, the source of the sound. A woman had seen him, and dropped a ceramic vase that she'd no doubt been carrying to her flower shop fifteen meters away.

'It's…it's…' she stammered, pointing at Matt and catching the attention the people around her, but not the overall pack of Sanctuary citizens. 'THE ANOMALY!'

Her exclamation rung through the ears of east central Sanctuary. Everyone stopped, not quite believing her, until they followed her finger and saw Matt Rye himself.

'Um, hello,' Matt greeted awkwardly.

Immediately, the multitude of citizens erupted into conversation, gasping at the sudden return of a supposed legend. They began cheering, loudly, at the Anomaly's reappearance, throwing up their hands in the air in celebration. People rushed to Matt to shake his hand, or say something to their hero, which easily overwhelmed the Anomaly, meanwhile the Vault Hunters merely looked on in laughter.

No one could quite believe he was back, but set aside their suspicions on his "death" because the man had finally delivered on his promise to come home.

All, except one.

As the cheering started to go down, and people merely resorted to shaking his hand, the woman with the vase began to raise her voice.

'Why are we celebrating?!' She screamed, louder than all of them, silencing the whole crowd. The woman stepped towards Matt imposingly. Matt's expression dropped. 'Is no one going to ask where the _hell _he has been?! Why did you decide we needed you _now, Matt?_ Where were_ you_, during the collapse of the Associated Constellations? Where were_ you_ when _our _babies were _burning?!_ Huh? Where _were_ you, oh great Anomaly?'

'I've been trying to come back as soon as possible, but it wasn't _my _choice,' the Anomaly attempted to elaborate. 'I really wish I _could've _been there, during such awful times. It must've been like –'

'_Hell,'_ the woman claimed. '_Four years_ of unendurable _hell.'_

'She's got a point,' another citizen agreed, stepping out from the others. 'My wife died when the Associated Constellations was annihilated, and this "messiah" didn't show up _once.'_

'Gaige, what's with this with the Associated Constellations?' The Anomaly muttered to her, careful not to raise his voice. When Gaige didn't respond, he turned to see her pained expression. 'Gaige? What's wrong?'

'He doesn't _know _what happened in the last four years!' The woman with the vase angrily criticised. 'And you all _expect _me to just…WELCOME him back like this?!'

No one in the audience dared to object her. It would probably be a bad idea to mess with someone who was indescribably infuriated.

'I am truly sorry you had to go through all of this,' Matt eventually said. 'But it was out of my control when I could come back or even if I could. I was in another dimension, controlled by aliens – _they _decided when I got to leave. I only convinced them a couple hours ago.'

'You don't actually think we'll _believe _that?' The man from the audience derided.

'It's the _truth.'_

With that, Matt walked off, wading through the crowd towards Sanctuary HQ. The Vault Hunters pursued after him, although Gaige stopped to address the two people from before.

'You're not going to achieve anything by arguing amongst yourselves,' she lectured angrily, before chasing after the Anomaly.

'Matt!' Aurora called, prompting him to stop to stare at her. 'I-I realise that wasn't the welcome you were expecting, but –'

'No, they were right,' the Anomaly interrupted. 'I really don't know _what _I was expecting, but they have every right to be upset.'

'Yeah, but it wasn't helping to shout at you like that!' Gaige added, as she caught up with him.

'_And _it's not even your fault,' Axton reinforced rigidly. Matt ignored them and entered Sanctuary HQ with haste. He walked up the stairs, noticing the new lift where Roland's Armoury used to be, as well the new paint job.

The other Vault Hunters reached the top of the stairs quickly, before Matt entered the scanner room. Gaige stroked his arm with a concerned look in her eye. Matt hugged her to ensure he was fine.

Matt entered the room behind the Vault Hunters, swiftly noticing Lilith leaning over the scanner in the centre of the room. She visibly heard them enter but didn't get up to address them.

'Good job locking down the Menagerie, the Raiders are now appropriating the facility for us,' the Siren commended. 'It was fortunate that the Menagerie was down on half of their military, when they thought we were coming from a different direction. But you risked the _entire _operation, and _what _was that celebrating outside?'

Matt stepped forward, just out of the Siren's line of sight. He put a hand on her shoulder, causing Lilith to jump.

'Don't you think it's worth it to take a break?' He suggested, smiling down at her. Instantly recognising his voice, Lilith looked up and stumbled back slightly when she saw his face.

'Matt?' She asked, in complete disbelief.

He beamed at her, and all the Siren could do was hold out a hand to touch his shoulder. When her hand made contact, Lilith breathed a sigh of relief and hugged him for a millisecond.

'I've never seen Lilith _hug _before,' Fiona murmured to the Vault Hunters.

'Neither have I,' Gaige mumbled back.

'It was only for second, though,' Axton reminded them.

'How did you…?' Lilith began unevenly.

'Took some convincing,' Matt mused. 'They're afraid, Lil.'

'Afraid of what…?' The Siren asked wearily.

'The Great Monsoon.'

Fiona shuddered. There was that name again. The name that sparked fear in even Gaige.

'Wh-What's the "Great Monsoon"?' Fiona wondered fearfully.

'It's known by many names,' the Anomaly answered. 'Armageddon, the Apocalypse, the Day That Will Never End, the Storm of Abaddon, the Unstoppable Purge, Doomsday. All religions that prophesise the end times? They're all talking about the Great Monsoon. Some were _slightly _off, mainly in thinking there's supposed to be a new era of peace afterwards. Put simply: it is death incarnate. No Second Coming. No saviour. Just annihilation.'

'It's the war you were warned about,' Amelia elaborate. 'The largest and most tragic conflict in history.'

'How much did you learn?' Lilith prompted further.

'A lot,' Matt replied simply.

'Does that include who wins?' Axton asked them both gravelly.

'It's not about winning or losing,' the Anomaly told him firmly. 'It's about _surviving._' He walked over the scanner, adjusted the settings, and nodded to Amelia. Understanding his request, she took out the Artefact.

'Wait, that's the relic thingy from the Vault!' Gaige recognised.

'But there was a forcefield around it…' Fiona recalled confusedly, her voice trailing off.

Matt took the Artefact from Amelia's hand and rested it on top of the scanner, manipulating the wires on an extension cord to plug it in. The Infinite energy began to flow through the wires, transferring into electrical energy into the scanner.

'You see, when I got out of the Infinite, I wasn't dawdling about,' the Anomaly explained, manipulating the dials on the side of the scanner. 'I _found _something.' He pulled up a map of mostly the northwest coast of Pandora, although slightly extended. A red dot appeared on the map, east of the Vault of the Dreamer.

'What _is _that?' Aurora asked, trying to get a closer look.

'The Artefact directed me towards it,' the Vault Hunter told them. 'It's an Eridian Tomb, triangulated by the Rule of Alignment.'

'Rule of Alignment?' Lilith questioned him.

'The Vault of the Dreamer, the Vault of the Destroyer and the Vault of the Warrior are all perfectly in line,' Amelia enlightened them, pointing to their positions on the map. 'The Eridian Tomb was placed there based on those said positions. Inside it, we found something. We decided to call it the Cube.'

'A Pandimensional Interspatial Conduit. Amelia and I were able to _activate _it, in a manner of speaking, providing the Eridians with an alternative connection to the Midgardian dimension, apart from me,' Matt disclosed. 'Esog – the Watcher – gave me this task so that it would be easier for their _entire _population to emerge from the Infinite. That way, if or when the Great Monsoon occurs, they can escape to a different dimension if the need arose.'

'And that's when they instructed us to infiltrate the Menagerie and aid in your operation,' Amelia concluded.

'OK, Lilith I got your message,' a voice called from behind them. Matt turned to see who it was. 'But I don't see why it was so urgent that I should drop everything and –'

The moment Maya made eye contact with Matt, she stopped. She stopped moving, she stopped talking – she froze.

'Hi, Maya,' Matt smiled at her, she began to walk over to him, not quite believing he was standing there. 'I know it's been a while, but –'

He was interrupted by a harsh slap around the face by the blue-haired Siren. The sound echoed throughout the room.

'OK, lesson learnt, you're angry,' the Anomaly carried off awkwardly.

'Where the hell have _you_ been?!' The Siren demanded wrathfully, grabbing him irreverently by his shirt collar. '_Four years_ and not even a _peep _from you! You were part of my _family,_ Matt – a fellow Siren, no less, yet you chose _now _to come back? What about when the Associated Constellations were decimated? When the Crimson Raiders were scrambling to the edges of the Medusa sector, trying their best to regain control over Gemini, you never showed your face _once. _You said you'd come back when you were most needed!'

'I understand you're mad –' the Anomaly began.

_'Mad?!'_ Maya scoffed. '_Mad? _I'm fucking furious! Trillions died when the Associated Constellations was destroyed. My home planet, Athenas, _burnt_. It was incinerated, along with everyone on it, and I had to _watch!_ Sure, the monks merely _used_ me, but they also _raised _me – they didn't deserve to _die! _And to think, I actually went to your memorial service! What was I thinking?'

'Maya, I know it must've been hell, but I had _no _choice when to come back,' Matt tried to outline to her, but the Siren didn't listen. 'Please, listen to me: arguing isn't going to bring your planet back.'

'It's easy for _you_ to say,' the Siren shot back. 'You got _everything _you wanted. You even have your sister back! In fact, what did _you _go through in past four years, Matt? While all the constellations were under an inferno, you were just…_lounging _about in the Infinite, weren't you? Just relaxing, right?'

At that, Matt's sympathetic expression fell, and was replaced a grim disposition. Everyone in the room saw this, disconcertedly, and even Maya was left nonplussed. He glared down at her, towering over her in height, somewhat squashing the Siren's imposing presence.

'If you think being _here _was like hell, you should've seen what it was like for _me,'_ he challenged her. 'Because it was much longer than four years.'

'Mattie, we agreed not to talk about it,' his sister scolded him lightly.

'What do you mean?' Aurora asked. Matt sighed, holding his head down for a second.

'Time differential,' he uttered reluctantly. 'Time in the Infinite passes differently to Midgard. One hour for you is about four days for me.'

'Jesus Christ,' Axton susurrated in pure horror.

'How long did you spend in the Infinite?' Gaige asked the Anomaly. He didn't respond. '_Matt, _how long did you spend in the Infinite?'

'Four-hundred years,' the Anomaly confessed.

'_Four…hundred?!' _The Mechromancer gawked. 'You spent all that time in the Infinite, and you didn't even change?'

'Of course I changed,' Matt replied. 'I didn't age much physically – my body had essentially slowed in time the moment I entered the Infinite. Mentally, though, I _did. _Strictly speaking, I'm not twenty-five years old, I'm four-hundred and twenty-one.'

Maya collapsed onto a nearby chair, unable to fathom what she was hearing.

'Do you know what it was like, Maya?' Matt prompted her, to which she merely shook her head. 'It was apocalyptic. The Eridians needed me prepared for the war, so they put me through "training". Imagine every single conflict in the galaxy raging all at once and then times it by thousand. That's what it was like for me in the Infinite.'

There was a silence about the Vault Hunters. No one really knew how to react to this. Maya thought her life over the past few years was hellish, but she couldn't have imagined what it would've been like for Matt. And she had the audacity to challenge him! She was so ashamed right now, but all Matt did was put a hand on her shoulder and smile down at her. She smiled back.

'I'm sorry, but what actually _is _the Infinite?' Rhys enquired inexplicably, breaking the established silence.

'Yeah, uh, you never explained,' Fiona reminded them.

'There's more than _one _dimension,' Amelia told them vaguely.

'The Infinite is another dimension, of pure, untainted power – a bottomless well of Infinite energy,' the Anomaly described. 'It's the energy that the Eridians used to create the Vaults, and trap monsters that they deemed too dangerous to remain in their respective domains. Eridium, for example, is solidified Infinite energy, sort of like power cells for Vaults, along with likewise Eridian structures. As such, they can charge Vault Keys, activate Raid Boss summoning posts, _et cetera.'_

'Why is Infinite energy so important to the Eridians?' Fiona wondered.

'A myriad of reasons,' Matt informed them simply. 'They could use Infinite energy for virtually anything. It could reanimate corpses, bring people back to life, manipulate the timestream, and warp reality, even. Depends on how you use it, and _who _is using it, and also _where._

'The Eridians gained control of the Infinite, but they couldn't manipulate the Midgardian dimension from within it.

'The Eridians, they foresaw the Great Monsoon, and the damage it would cause. So, they fled into the Infinite, abandoning their physical bodies and becoming creatures of pure consciousness.

'As a result, they required some way to maintain their influence in any and all dimensions. Once they passed into the Infinite, they left behind a trail of Infinite energy – which caused the distribution between dimensions to become unbalanced. So, they created Sirens. Sirens are beings with a strong, and abnormal, connection to the Infinite, and they're able to draw from it, using it to bend the laws of physics as we know it.

'Unfortunately, millions of years after Sirens were created, and nine years ago, the Vault of the Destroyer was opened. They created the Vault Key for _themselves_, not for the humans, in case they ever needed to use the Destroyer as some last resort in future conflicts. However, you all – you got too curious! When Lilith and her buds opened the Vault, an incalculable amount of Infinite energy flowed into our dimension, too much for it to handle. Slowly, it began to react with Dark energy, which would create an incredibly volatile result.

'The universe almost ended because the equation between the Infinite – the energy that binds our dimensions together – became unbalanced. The Eridians couldn't just create more Sirens; they had set a rule of only six in the universe at a time. Unless, of course, they bent the rules a bit.

'Enter: Hyperion. They formed the Genisys Project – where they would use DNA from Angel, a Siren, and fuse it with human DNA, using Infinite energy. It was catastrophic. Most subjects died – in fact, all of them did. All except me.'

Rhys and Fiona's eyes went wide at this information.

'I heard about the Genisys Project,' the Corporate claimed, prompting a look of confusion from Matt. 'I'm ex-Hyperion.' Matt nodded and made a quiet 'ah' sound. 'But it was just a rumour; most of us didn't believe they _actually _created a Siren-Human hybrid.'

'They only succeeded because the Eridians _let _them,' Matt stated quite confidently. 'It took a while before they found a subject they'd be "happy" with, but it came to me. Half a Siren doesn't count as more than six whole ones; just like a computer rounds 2.5 down to 2. Therefore, I was…reborn, only half human. It granted me access to the Infinite, to a particular side of the spectrum that allowed me to manipulate time.

'And all of this was done to get to me to one specific moment – me, in the Vault, met by my dead sister.'

The Artist and the Corporate looked at Amelia in utter confusion and horror.

'Oh, uh, I used to be dead,' she explained unhelpfully.

'I was created for one sole purpose: the host for the Infinite. An anchor-man between this dimension and the latter; a liaison, if you like. That way, the Eridians could balance the rogue Infinite energy in _this _dimension, and use it to activate the Tomb I mentioned earlier. They did it to save both the Infinite and Midgard.'

'Then how come you can return at all?' Aurora probed him. 'Don't you have to remain in the Infinite to stay its host?'

'I managed to give Amelia a human body, but she's still half Infinite energy. I'm half Siren, so I'm half Infinite. Put those two together, and you get a complete connection.'

'Midgard would eventually reject the excess Infinite energy though,' Lilith speculated, to which Matt nodded sombrely.

'When I'm done helping you with this war, I have to go back,' he stated categorically.

'But –' Gaige objected.

'No buts,' he interrupted. 'It's not a choice; it's fact. I'm sorry.'

'And I thought Deborah had nowhere to go,' Fiona commented absentmindedly.

'Who?' The Anomaly questioned.

'It's the prisoner Fiona and I recovered from the Menagerie,' Gaige answered.

'She's settling into her position as a strategist,' Lilith said. 'In fact, I called her over to help with the Menagerie clean-up operation. She'll be here any minute.'

'Right, OK then,' Matt replied awkwardly. 'You mean you only took out one person?'

'Well, the Raiders are escorting out more as we speak, and inducting them into our military corps, or into civilian centres like Chrysanthia,' Lilith clarified, changing the holographic display to show the entire Medusa sector. Red dots were placed across it, displaying Raider colonies, bases, and facilities on various planets throughout the galactic sector.

'Wow, you lot are everywhere! You've _definitely _been busy,' Matt gaped in awe, grinning at it.

'Lilith? I'm here! You said you wanted help in eliminating the lasting Gemini control over the Menagerie?' A voice claimed, coming up the stairs.

'Ah, that's her!' Lilith announced, but Matt looked on darkly.

'I know that voice,' the Anomaly recognised. 'I'd know it anywhere.'

'But that's impossible,' Amelia objected.

'Thank you for coming, Deborah,' the red-haired Siren thanked.

'Ah, well, I _am_ supposed to follow orders, so –' Deborah stopped when she appeared at the top of the stairs and Matt. She didn't move, barely breathing, as tears began to well in her eyes.

'Deborah? You alright?' Lilith inquired to her, putting a hand on her shoulder to catch her attention, but the woman didn't appear at all to notice her attempts.

Deborah bolted towards Matt, to throw her arms around him, but the Anomaly stopped her instantly and lightly pushed her back from him.

'I don't understand; what's going on?' Fiona questioned bewilderedly.

'Everyone,' Matt addressed universally, maintaining a furious glare at the woman before him. 'This…is my mother, Deborah _Rye._'

'Your _mother?!' _Fiona gawked vociferously.

'Of _all _the people we stumble upon it just _had _to be your mother,' Gaige complained.

'What are you _doing _here?' Matt asked calmly but with a hint of passive-aggressiveness.

'I thought you were dead,' Deborah admitted. 'Just like…' Her voice trailed off when her eyes darted to just behind Matt, and saw the face of her daughter. 'A-Amelia? Is…is that you?'

'Yeah, it's me,' she confirmed. Deborah moved to her, but Amelia stepped away from her.

'What…what is it?'

'I know what you did.' Amelia scowled at her angrily. Deborah looked lost and confused. 'You disowned my brother, then _kicked him _off his home planet – your own _son!'_

'I'm sorry,' she apologised sincerely. 'I have no idea how that must've felt…I…I know now that that was unfair and cruel, and purely out of grief.'

'The fact that it took time for you to realise that is what worries me the most,' Gaige interjected.

'Gaige, don't,' Matt warned her.

'No, I don't care,' the Mechromancer disregarded. 'I _heard_ about you, and your husband Nicholas. Grief can do terrible things, and _make_ people do terrible things, but you'd have to be pretty evil _beforehand _to throw your own son of an entire planet.'

'Ex-husband,' Deborah corrected, still keeping her guilty expression. 'We divorced not long after you left Darios. We argued when I wanted to go look for you, and he didn't. After that, I left and he moved to Teleptia Major in the Garn Belt.'

'And what about Darios itself?' Matt asked carefully, not certain of the answer he would receive.

'Matt…Darios is…Darios is gone,' Deborah confessed traumatically.

'"Gone"?! How can an entire planet be "gone"?' Matt demanded.

'During the turmoil of the Associated Constellations, the entire planet was…obliterated. The entire population was exterminated.'

'Wait, that means that…' Amelia began to realise. 'Me, Matt, you and…_Nicholas_ are the last Darosians in existence.'

'Yes we are,' their mother confirmed. 'As far as I'm aware, the Rye family is the only one that survived the annihilation of the Associated Constellations of the Great Cascade. We're the last of our subspecies.'

'Which brings me back to the nagging question on my mind since I got back,' Matt addressed, suddenly raising his voice above all of them and gesturing manically about the room. He looked at each and every Vault Hunter as he spoke. 'I want to know what the hell happened that you're all _so _afraid of telling me. I can see it in your faces. Especially you, Gaige.'

The Mechromancer didn't respond, it was like her voice had been stolen.

'The Associated Constellations. _What. Happened?_ Clearly, something went wrong, but it's more than that. A woman outside claimed it was when you _really _needed me, that people were literally burning. Darios was destroyed in it, and apparently so was Athenas – along with probably countless other worlds who were united as a part of the Associated Constellations. So, if you'd be so kind as to explain what happened, that'd be _great_.'

'It was Gemini,' Lilith told him. 'While the Crimson Raiders grew in power, so did they. We established an influence over most of the galaxy, and we even got the Associated Constellations to agree to help fund us and provide homes for us, so long as we pledged to protect them.'

'Gemini grew their army in the shadows,' Axton continued. 'They began piecing together new technology, and managed to harness power we've never seen before. About two years ago, Lilith sent a squadron of fifty soldiers to investigate reports of mass Gemini control over the Outer Region of the Skhedeli sector of the galaxy. They didn't come back. The entire squad of Delta-One got wiped.'

'That's when we went in,' Aurora added. 'All of us, we went to stop Gemini from whatever plans they aimed to further. We got there, and it turned out they'd begun a regime over a few small planets, but we stopped them.'

'And…?' The Anomaly prompted, gesturing for them to continue.

'And it turned out to just be a distraction,' Maya answered. 'You see, while we were occupied in the Skhedeli sector, they attacked the Medusa sector. Luckily, they didn't reach Pandora, the capital of the Raiders, but they got to most other planets.'

'Got to them to do what?' Amelia asked fearfully.

'Destroy them,' Gaige replied. 'The High Council of the Associated Constellations was based on multiple planets in the Medusa sector. Rather than waste time checking which one they were on, they instead destroyed all of them.'

'Destroy? There's no way Gemini gathered _that _much power,' Matt objected immediately.

'We thought that too,' Lilith agreed. 'We don't know yet _how_ they did it. But I'm afraid the story gets worse. They moved from the Medusa sector to the heart of the Associated Constellations – the Metraxian sector. Their "constellations" generally resided there, since that's where they came from.'

'Right, and what happened?' The Anomaly questioned, frowning.

'Using _some_ kind of technology,' Aurora elaborated, 'they managed to obliterate every single planet, moon or star in the Metraxian sector within a second. They caused a thousand _million_ stars to go supernova within a single instant, burning every planet in the process, and then they reduced them to mere fragments. The Metraxian sector is just dead space now. All of it. And all we could do was watch it all _burn_.'

'With no leader and most of its power vaporised in an instant, the Associated Constellations merely collapsed,' Axton concluded.

'How did you regain control?' Matt asked. 'If Gemini were _that _powerful, you'd be dead by now.'

'We thought so too,' Lilith confirmed. 'They tried to obliterate the Medusa sector, but we there for them this time, on board their flagship, the Leviathan. Whatever technology they were using didn't work, and since then they've relegated themselves to simple conflicts every so often, they're –'

'Hiding in the shadows, once again,' Matt finished for her, gnawing his teeth in frustration. 'But not for long, apparently.'

'What do you mean?' Lilith asked.

'On my way to the Eridian Tomb, I came across a Gemini train.'

'_Old _Gemini train,' the Siren told him. 'They're automated old Hyperion trains. They're not transporting anything.'

'But there's also their recent appropriation of the Friendship Gulag,' Amelia pointed out.

'First attempt they've made in a while,' Axton said. 'I'm surprised they manage to establish _any _force on Pandora. They must've been very stealthy.'

'All the more reason to increase security,' Lilith resolved confidently.

'Gemini has an acute tendency to keep their operations secret,' the Anomaly reminded them. 'They have more statutes and secrecy regulations than anyone can ever be bothered to count. But when they come back, it'll be in force. You'll _know _it when it happens.'

'But we've got a secret advantage that _they _don't know about,' Gaige professed with a smile.

'And what's that?' The Anomaly inquired with a similar grin.

'You.'

'And me,' Amelia added confidently.

'And me,' Deborah supplemented, albeit quieter. Matt glowered at her once again. 'I have information about Gemini, I can help.'

'You're a lawyer, the best you can do is argue,' the Anomaly ruthlessly insulted.

'Matty, she broke into the _CCG,'_ Aurora disclosed to him pertinently. 'She accessed information not even _I_ got to see. It could really help.'

'Fine,' the Anomaly accepted reluctantly, after a while. 'But that doesn't mean I have to _like _you.'

'I understand,' Deborah told him.

'Do you?' Matt challenged, staring at her for a few seconds. After a few seconds, he finally dragged himself away from her.

Gaige put a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to smile at her reassuringly.

'Right, what's the first order of business for me, as a newly-reintroduced Crimson Raider and Vault Hunter?'

Lilith didn't reply, and rather only gave him a cheeky grin. Matt wasn't hopeful for what fate befall him.

* * *

**Ok, we're moving along.**

**Matt has a new ability: selective control. He can consciously or unconsciously choose who is slowed down when he activates his Chronokinesis, or more accurately, who _isn't. _However, it should be noted that he _just _learnt this, and he can only select a few people at a time to be unaffected by the latter ability. **

**And the biggest twist of them all: Matt spent _four-hundred_ years in the Infinite, not merely four. He's also mastered the ability of stopping time. He doesn't even need to think to do it. He's mentally centuries older now, even though his body only aged at the same rate as it did on Midgard (our universe).**

**Also, Deborah wasn't telling the whole truth! She is in fact Deborah Rye, the _former _lawyer of Acropolis Unity Courthouse, _former _resident of Darios, and the _former _mother of Matt. This isn't really out of nowhere, either, since in _Someone Else, _it is mentioned that Matt's mother's name is Deborah – you might have figured that out on your own, since the dots do connect. **

**Furthermore, R.I.P. Darios. As mentioned, it was obliterated during the turmoil of the galactic unity organisation known fully as the Associated Constellations of the Great Cascade. R.I.P. Athenas. No wonder Maya's pissed at Matt for not being there, even though it's not really his fault. Bet you weren't expecting _that _now, were ya? Well, you got Gemini to thank for the latter planets' destruction. They're just debris floating in space now.**

**All will be revealed soon enough! Thanks for reading/following/reviewing/favouriting!**


	8. Halcyon Days

**So, this story has been inactive for months now. I'll be honest, I lost interest. I love Borderlands, but my interest waned, especially after the whole Epic Games Store Exclusive debacle that still pisses me off. I have this story planned out, but I can never account for the small moments where nothing happens and I get writer's block. Truthfully, I've had this story written up to the twelfth chapter, I just never got around to _posting _it.**

**As such, I cannot confirm that this story is now active again, I just figured I might as well upload the final chapters and I get on with it. I don't know if anyone is still reading this story, but I sincerely hope anyone enjoyed some of it.**

**So here it is.**

* * *

**8: HALCYON DAYS**

* * *

Matt looked down at Lilith in pure confusion and bewilderment. These words the Siren was saying had to be some stupid joke.

'_Training?!' _He practically yelled in confusion.

'You heard me,' the Siren replied audaciously. 'You've been MIA for four years, by our standards, that proclaims you out of shape.'

'_Out of shape?!'_ The Anomaly screeched. 'I'm perfectly fit, thank you very much – in fact, I'm even fitter than I've ever been before. You see my eyes?' He pointed to both of them. 'You see how they're _golden,_ not brown? That's not me having some fun, dyeing my pupils, _no. These _eyes tell you that I'm more in tune with the Infinite than ever thought possible – than any Siren ever, actually! And you say "out of shape"?!'

'As your superior officer, I _order_ you to go on training,' Lilith replied. 'You don't really have a choice. Besides, the world has changed over the past four years – what passes for fit _then_ does not apply now.' Matt sighed.

'Matt, think of it as your chance to acclimatise,' the Mechromancer suggested. 'You'll understand the world around you as it is now so you don't have to go answering questions.'

'Through combat exercises?' The Anomaly criticised satirically.

'C'mon, work with me here!' Gaige moaned childishly, pouting at him.

'Ugh, _fine,'_ Matt finally conceded. 'You know…we _could _go on a date later.'

'Um, maybe some other time,' Gaige avoided awkwardly. 'Just…just go.'

'If you're so certain…' Matt replied in slight confusion frowning at her behaviour.

'It can't be _that _bad, can it?' Rhys joked sardonically. 'That the great hero of Sanctuary has to go back to the drawing board?'

'I don't know what _you're _smirking about, Rhys,' Lilith spoke down to him condescendingly. '_You're _going with him.'

'Wait, what?!' The Corporate immediately protested.

'Honestly, it's a miracle we let you off for this long,' the Siren replied earnestly. 'Your training was cut off and resuming it is long overdue. But as you begin to invest yourself in more missions with us, you need the physicality and battle strategy to match.'

'You mean I have to compete with _him?!' _Rhys assumed in disgust.

'It's not "competing"; neither of you can "win",' Lilith told him. 'But you need more than brains to keep up with the Raiders.'

'I've been doing just _fine _over the past few years,' Rhys averred overconfidently. Fiona failed to hold back her sardonic snigger.

'No you have _not!' _She protested. 'You've barely gotten used to firing a gun!'

'Thanks, Fi,' Rhys sarcastically acknowledged.

'Well, she's not wrong,' Gaige interjected. The Corporate shot her a disdainful look. 'What? The first time we went into combat, you cowered in fear from DT.'

'Wait, _you _were afraid of Deathtrap?' Matt chuckled light-heartedly.

'Well, have you _seen _those claws?!' Rhys argued.

'There's much worse on Pandora than _claws,'_ Maya derided him.

'Believe me, _I know,'_ the Corporate confirmed pointedly.

'No matter how much you argue about it, you _have _to follow my orders,' Lilith addressed firmly, folding her arms annoyedly. Matt sighed acceptingly.

'Where are you sending us, then?' The Anomaly finally asked.

'The only place with the proper training resources,' the Siren told him unclearly.

'What's that?' The Vault Hunter prompted.

'Karabraxis.'

'I've never even _been _there,' Matt protested, folding his arms.

'Rhys has,' Lilith pointed out, turning to the Corporate with a smirk emblazoned across her face. '_You're _gonna bring him there.'

'_Ugh,_ fine,' the Vault Hunter submitted reluctantly. Lilith suddenly beamed annoyingly at him, making the man sigh internally.

'Off you go, then,' the Siren ordered, waving her hand at her dismissively.

'Oh, and, Matt?' Gaige called. He spun around on his foot and looked at her perplexedly. 'Happy birthday.'

Matt's eyes widened. He hastily walked back down stairs with Rhys, who seemed slightly agitated.

Once they had finished speaking, Deborah stepped forward to say something. Sensing this was about Matt, Lilith stopped her.

'Deborah, go back to your post in the Stratagem Department. I'll be there soon once the Council has assembled to deal with the Menagerie clean-up.'

'But –'

'I wasn't _asking,'_ the red-haired general stated firmly. Deborah left, but Amelia stayed behind.

'Matt may be OK with Deborah being here, but I'm _not,'_ she told her cynically. 'If Fiona hadn't been so reckless and stupid, we wouldn't be in this situation.'

'Unfortunately for you, it isn't your choice,' Lilith responded with equal mirth. Frustrated, Amelia left the room.

Matt and Rhys walked through the streets of Sanctuary, neither of them engaging in lengthy conversation. Their dialogue was concise and stunted, never expanding further than a few utterances, mainly consisting of "yes" and "no" or simply "I don't know".

Rhys kept his head down most of the time, only looking up to make sure he concentrated on where he was going and blinked awkwardly whenever Matt tried to get his attention.

Matt could tell Rhys wasn't particularly fond of him, given his impatient rolling on his feet, the constant paced movement down the street and his excessive tendency to fold his arms every time they slowed down. He wasn't particularly sure why, but he never _expected _people to like him – it sort of just…happened.

Axton didn't like him, at first, but that was because their rocky past.

On the other hand, Matt had never actually met Rhys until the Menagerie operation, and that was mainly by incidence. Fiona was awed because of the ridiculously exaggerated things people had said about him, whereas Rhys seemed annoyed at his disposition.

Eventually, they walked past the central area of Sanctuary, and Matt instantly stopped.

Now he knew why Fiona had idolised him: he had a _statue _in the middle of Sanctuary.

'What the…I have a _statue?!' _He exclaimed confoundedly, his eyes widening and raising an eyebrow in scepticism.

'Yeah, you have an entire memorial,' Rhys waved off uninterestedly. '_Everyone _knows who you are. You're pretty much seen as the greatest hero of Sanctuary.'

'Seriously?' Matt failed to process. '"Greatest hero" is a bit unfair to _other _people who sacrificed their lives for Sanctuary.'

'Yeah, whatever,' the Corporate ignored, lowering his tone of voice to a mutter. 'It's not like you care enough to _do _anything about it.'

'What?'

'Oh, um, nothing.'

Shaking his head at Rhys's odd behaviour, walking down the steps towards the memorial. It was taller than already quite tall buildings around it, and the base was surrounded by an encroaching amount of laurels and flowers, festering over it like some unknowable, altruistic infection.

The likeness was chilling and uncanny, but there was some sort lifelessness to it that made it feel somehow less real than it truly was. Matt doubted its presence in the centre of Sanctuary constantly was in any way heart-warming for the Vault Hunters. With how Maya reacted, along with the resounding tense silence between them, seeing his face all the time must've been painful.

As he got closer, abandoning his guilty reverie, he noticed someone was kneeling down at the plaque on the front face of the podium.

It was girl, going by her build and curvatures, although Matt only briefly paid attention to her features. She was wearing some sort of light purple dress, which seemed painted over from a previous pink colour underneath. The uneven pink lining at the end of coat indicated the haphazard modifications the owner had made to it. There was even a badge of a bunny on the back, which Matt vaguely recognised.

The Anomaly tried to think back to where he had seen it before, but the Infinite had made his memories slightly unclear. Matt still recalled all of it, but the specific details that the Vault Hunter seldom paid much attention to were murky and unfocused.

He forced his memories to reinvigorate themselves, using a few sparks of the Infinite in his brain, enhancing the speed of the electrical signals in his nerve cells and the diffusion of speed of his neurotransmitters.

Brusquely, Matt remembered where he had seen that bunny badge before, and who it belonged.

'Tina?'

* * *

**(Not Tiny)**** Tina**

_EXPLOSIVE personality._

* * *

Tina shuddered for a second, but didn't turn around.

'Go away,' she told him wearily. 'You aren't real.'

'I'm quite real, Tina. I'm back.'

'That's what you said the _last _time,' the girl insisted. 'Then I turned around and you weren't there. You're _never _there. _Never _alive, always dead. That's right. Dead. People don't come back after they die. Statues are just like that: dead eyes, dead looks. But they stay there while the real one stays gone.'

Matt jerked his head back disconcertedly, blinking quickly for a few seconds. He had gotten used to Tina's odd tangents, but this raving rant she had frenziedly produced was even more frayed and loose than he'd heard before.

'Death is so reliable. You can always count on it not to waver. No tricks. When you die, you can always rely on the fact that you _won't _come back. Death is promised but life is not. There are no promises truer than death. But I can _also _count on that you won't _be _there when I turn around.'

Matt wasn't sure what to say to that. He knew Tina was insane, but not _this _insane.

'Turn around then,' he urged her.

Tina barely moved, only shaking as she continued to stare at the plaque. Slowly, the girl began to turn around towards Matt, unbending her legs as she carefully stood up. When she saw Matt still standing there, Tina stumbled back for a moment, before stepping gradually towards him.

She leant out a hand towards him, wearily, until finally her hand landed below his shoulder. Matt held her hand against it once the girl made contact, just to ensure her that he was indeed tangible.

Tina breathed a loud sigh of relief.

'M-Mattie-boy?' She asked with a tinge of hope in her voice. The Anomaly smiled at her, stroking her hair and rubbing off a lone tear running down her cheek.

'It's me, Tina.'

Tina pulled him in tightly, silently sobbing into his chest, while she felt Matt's safe, welcoming arms enveloping her and instantly relieving her of her torment.

'It's OK; it's all gonna be OK. Just let it all out.'

Matt looked back at Rhys, who seemed absolutely gobsmacked. He probably hadn't seen such a sensitive side to the insane bomb lover, which was unsurprising, since Tina barely showed anything other than her manic cover that she called her personality. It didn't really matter _who _you were, everyone had a sensitive side.

Eventually, Tina stopped crying and instead began hitting him wildly.

'Where _were _you, sucka?' She demanded jovially, catching the Anomaly off-guard. 'I've been playing Bunkers and Badasses without ya, dude! Gets kinda boring, and Gaige clearly doesn't like streaming it with that _weird _ECHO earpiece-thingy.'

'You mean this?' Matt inquired cheekily, taking out his ECHOear and showing it to her with a grin.

'Yes indeedy!' Tina exclaimed childishly. 'So whatcha doing _now, _shawty?'

'Lilith's sending me off to Karabraxis for training,' the Anomaly professed reluctantly.

'_Daaaaamn, _you must be _pretty _bad if Lili thinks ya need training!'

'Yeah it's –'

Matt paused when he felt something being pelted at him. He looked down at his lapel, and grimaced at the sight of a lone tomato sliding down it. Hastily, wincing at it, the Anomaly peeled it off and let it drop to the ground. Turning around, the Vault Hunter saw a merchant affiliated with the Pandoran Trade, picking out food from his transportable box.

'Go back to your Vault Hunter buddies!' He barked. 'They're the only people that _want_ you here!'

'That was a pretty good shot!' Rhys laughed, although no one else was laughing.

The merchant geared to throw another one, but this time the Anomaly held out his arm, albeit reluctantly, as lightning began to crackle from it. As another organic projectile hurtled towards him, it slowed to a stop a few feet before him, completely frozen in time, whilst everything else remained animated.

Without much warning, they started to speed up again through the air.

'I _really _need to get the hang of this new power,' Matt noted, before moving himself and Tina out of the way of the flying food. Satisfied but still disgruntled, the merchant grumbled and walked away.

'Wow, you are _not _popular,' the Corporate observed contrarily, gritting his teeth at the residue of tomato left behind on his lapel. Frantic, Tina began wiping it off as quickly as possible.

'This coat's too _cool _to be stained!'

'Thanks, Tina,' the Anomaly acknowledged, holding back a snigger. 'So, um, I gotta go.' When he saw her face go slightly crestfallen, Matt adlibbed. 'But I'll be back soon!'

'Make sure you stay alive so I can play some Bunkers and Badasses with ya!' Tina requested enthusiastically.

'Definitely, that game's fun incarnate! I'll make a mental note on that,' he agreed, before turning on his feet and back towards Rhys. Tina smiled at him as he left.

While Matt and Rhys walked towards the fast travel, Rhys pondered on the Anomaly's effect on others. Rhys had never seen a personal, emotional, non-crazy side to Tina before, nor did she ever give people hugs. Matt seemed to have that effect on people, which Rhys found absurd – there was no way _one _guy could bring out such an unorthodox side to someone. Matt couldn't be _that _important.

Yet, the Anomaly managed to make both Tina _and _Lilith to hug him (although the latter was brief) and reduce two of the Vault Hunters to tears upon sight.

Maya seemed to be the only one out of them who had an aggressive reaction to Matt, going as far as to yell at him for a full minute. However, once the Anomaly revealed what it was light on _his _head, Maya appeared to shut up, but it was evident that she was still deeply affected by the destruction of her planet and by the Vault Hunter's absence.

How could Matt being gone be so devastating? He was _just _a man! His absenteeism would be no different from, say, Axton swanning off of his own accord.

Sure, Fiona _never _failed to mention how the Anomaly saved the entire universe, and was also a living Vault Key who was able to depower an entity, the Dreamer, whom was viewed as a _god_, like a mouse killing a human, but Rhys never overestimated his capabilities.

The Corporate didn't think much of him; he seemed perfectly ordinary. There were things about him that certainly _were _anomalous, but Matt's personality and predisposition didn't appear to be strange.

Now, Rhys knew how Jeffrey felt when he complained about how Gaige never looked at him twice. People never thought too much of stupid, scrawny little Rhys, and as such greatly underestimated him. No one, not even his allies, batted an eye at him more than once, believing him to be pathetically asinine.

_'Nah, Rhys, you got it all wrong,'_ Fiona had told him once. _'LET people underestimate you so they don't suspect it when you outsmart them.' _

She was right. She often was, the Corporate mused happily.

'So, you have access to Karabraxis?' Matt asked him, to which Rhys sighed and nodded.

'_Of course_ I do.' He leant out to the fast travel machine and punched into the interface, searching through the options for the one that said "Karabraxis – Training Grounds" and pressed on it. A pop-up alerted him to an unauthorised body being transported with him, and he identified it as Matt Rye and granted him access to the location.

They dematerialised into blue digital light, disappearing from Sanctuary.

* * *

As Rhys and Matt began to materialise within Karabraxis, the Anomaly surveyed his surroundings in awe.

Across most of the area visible in the background, the buildings were modernised, with Aluminium-Pobranium mix frames and crimson reflective glass covering their main exteriors.

In the Training Grounds, mainly, the buildings were shorter and older, covering more ground rather than height and containing large open spaces populated with forests, climbing frames and aged wooden structures – all purely for training.

Every so often, a group of training Crimson Raiders jogged by, run by a regiment leader to whip them into shape. Matt could also spot a few jets and warp-shift ships parked in the hangar less than a mile away from their location, along with bands of curved plastic covering the top of them.

Rhys sighed at the Anomaly's constant exaggerative gawking.

'Are you done gaping?' He questioned him agitatedly, folding his arms over his expensive business suit. The Vault Hunter nudged him, and Matt's attention shifted to the edge of the city.

The entire metropolis was an island, albeit a huge one, man-made with a long highway leading back to the mainland – although it seemed old and Matt assumed the Raiders seldom used it. He could see the terrain of the Highlands far in the distance, as well as other coastal regions of Pandora.

He'd heard of an island like this before, but that wasn't made by the Crimson Raiders. Suddenly, the name came to him.

'Wait a minute, isn't this Opportunity?' The Anomaly recognised bemusedly.

'It used to be,' the Corporate confirmed. 'With Pandora purged of Hyperion control, Opportunity was abandoned – so the Raiders seized it for themselves and enlarged it a couple years back. Not like Hyperion was gonna waste time and money dismantling the city.'

'Just like I suggested,' Matt muttered happily. 'So where's our trainer?'

'Uh, I dunno, but she _definitely _knew we were coming,' Rhys ensured him.

'Got that right.'

They turned around to see a woman wearing a dark hood with streaks of grey running down it. She wore rugged, worn clothing with a fading red colour to them, and a small brown jacket over it. The woman had some armour plating on her shoulder, with a similarly worn crimson pigment, and short sleeve arms with exposed her mildly calloused skin. She had a haphazard belt worn unevenly across her waist and tight grey slacks with some more cerise plating extending down to her reddened shin plates and black boots.

There was a shield on her back, which made Matt frown at the odd choice of auxiliary combat, but it looked cool enough for him not to question it. Given that she had a constant frown across her face, the Anomaly supposed questioning it to begin with would lead with aggression.

* * *

**Athena the Gladiator**

_You spin me right round, baby right round_

* * *

Rhys cleared his throat awkwardly nodding at the woman disconcertedly. He made sure not to get too close to her.

'The name's Athena,' she told them.

'R-Rhys,' Rhys awkwardly responded, causing the Gladiator to frown again.

'I already _know _that, idiot,' she derided. 'I was talking to _him.' _The Vault Hunter pointed towards Matt.

'Right, yes, um, I'm Matt. Matt Rye,' the Anomaly introduced himself with little pride, but he did admit he enjoyed to slight widening of Athena's eyes when she realised who she was talking to. He held out a hand, but Athena seldom took it.

'I thought you were supposed to be dead,' the Gladiator deadpanned with narrowed eyes.

'Well, I was – I mean, not really, but kinda, I was sorta in another dimension for a long time,' he babbled awkwardly, before recognising the tired look his trainer was giving him and he stopped. 'Sorry.'

'Maybe we should work on that gob of yours first,' she considered, half-joking but staying completely serious. 'But no, Lilith asked me to train you and I still owe her for funding my wedding – so I'm _going _to whip you into shape. Now follow me.'

Rhys nodded like an authority-serving soldier, but following avidly behind him. Rolling his eyes at Rhys, Matt pursued both of them.

'Here at Karabraxis, you will be pushed to your absolute limits and then some,' Athena described, as they walked through the grounds, gesturing towards various soldiers initiating in various activities, reducing them to sweat within fifteen minutes.

'Constant, exhaustive exercise? _Great _fun,' Rhys said mordantly.

'It is, actually,' Matt replied, with an exuberantly bright grin.

'This isn't the place for chit-chat,' Athena warned them firmly, as she opened a door for them and leading them into a room full of wood planks constructed to make a tactical scene of windows, corridors and open rooms. 'This is the first stage of your training. You will be running through the battle site and taking out the picture cut-outs representing Gemini enemies. Do _not _take out the hostages – only Gemini. The aim is to do this as fast as possible.'

The Anomaly opened his mouth to say something, but the Gladiator spotted and stopped him.

'_No _powers allowed,' she confirmed for him.

'I thought so,' the Anomaly responded. 'Who's going first, then?'

'I don't really care,' Athena stated apathetically.

'Er, I'll go first,' Rhys decided unconfidently. Athena nodded and motioned for him to enter the doorway leading to the battle site. She activated the motion-activated stopwatch on a nearby screen.

'On your marks, get set, _go!'_ The Gladiator announced loudly, looking at the footage of the cameras as Rhys followed the arrows through the training site structure. Matt crossed his arms, interested, and surveyed the footage with her.

'So…' He began, trying to seem as unobtrusively friendly as possible. 'You're a Vault Hunter.'

'Oh, you noticed?' Athena asked sardonically.

'Ah, well, yeah,' Matt stumbled over his words awkwardly. 'Going by the age of your clothing and your post at Karabraxis, you must've been a Vault Hunter for a _while_.'

'Oh, you've got brains too,' the Gladiator observed condescendingly.

'Hmm…red,' he perceived, narrowing his eyes.

'What?'

'You have old red armour plating on you.'

'Well, _duh,_ I'm a Crimson Raider.'

'Yeah, except that plating – that paint – it's too old. It _outdates _the Crimson Raiders by a few years,' the Anomaly observed intelligently. 'Fun fact: I used to work for Gemini. And Gemini had multiple dealings with the Crimson Lance back in the day.' He noticed how Athena tensed up at the mention of the Lance. '_That_ armour plating was common in Lance Assassins.'

Athena reflexively reacted aggressively, attempting to grab the back of his arm to hold him down in a lock, but Matt was faster and blocked her attempt.

'Damn smartass,' she grumbled.

'There's nothing wrong with being ex-Lance,' he assured her, careful not to strike any more nerves. 'Hell, I'm ex-Gemini. And that's a corporation with possibly a worse reputation than the Lance _and _Hyperion _combined.' _

'Stop it.'

'What?'

'This _thing _you're doing that Gaige always said you did all the time. You know…making people _feel _better.'

'You mean being kind?' Matt simplified. 'Can't help it. I'm human.'

'If you were Gemini then you'd know more than anyone that not all humans are kind,' Athena countered aggressively, folding her arms.

'I know,' Matt replied solemnly. 'But if we don't believe there are good people out there, who will?'

'Only stupidly optimistic people think like that.'

'There's nothing stupid about being optimistic.'

Athena didn't respond, but instead brought her attention back to Rhys. He was moving near the end of the training course, shooting down the Gemini cut-outs that popped up before them. He was quick on his feet but unbalanced, and inefficient, almost falling over at times before he tried to regain his stability.

There was a moment of silence, where the only movement was from Rhys. The room was dark, only lit enough for the Corporate to roughly gauge his surroundings without tripping over anything.

Then the lights all switched on, almost blinding Rhys as he adapted to the increase in light.

He heard the sound of air escaping and a spring rushing into action. Instantly, the Vault Hunter spun around and shot at the cut-out. He looked closer and saw it wasn't a Gemini.

'You just shot a civilian, Rhys!' Athena scolded angrily over the intercom.

'I noticed,' he growled back.

'Just move on, you're almost done,' she sighed pointedly.

Rhys shook his head and moved on. Athena leant back from the surveillance screen and folded her arms again, not interested in what they were displaying.

'Is everything alright?' Matt asked her thoughtfully.

'It's just strange being in the same room as a dead man,' Athena answered, avoiding eye contact with him.

'No, that's not it,' the Anomaly figured out instantly. Athena straightened her posture and looked at him coldly in the eye.

'Gaige talks about you. A lot,' she finally told him honestly. 'She makes you out like Jesus. But then, today, at your memorial, she goes _on_ and _on_ about how you're _not _Jesus and you're _real. _So tell me: what are you?'

Matt was silent for a few seconds before he came to a response that he deemed adequate.

'I'm just a man,' he said eventually. 'I'm not a _god. _I'm human. I have human weaknesses. You shoot me; I bleed. But you know Gaige, she _loves _to exaggerate. That, and, she's my girlfriend. Do you know what I mean? Do you have a boyfriend? Girlfriend?'

'Wife, actually.'

'Lovely. I've seen marriages before. The Eridians think love and war are closely connected. I saw it thousands of times when I was in the Infinite – along with other situations. All's fair in love and war.'

'Who are you?' Athena asked, an eyebrow risen. Matt took a deep breath in through the nose before answering.

'It's like when you're a kid, and you think going to the bottom side of the planet would make you go upside-down, and then they tell you that you'll always be right side up. You just can't quite believe it because you think you think there _is _a right side up in space. Your whole perception changes when you realise the truth – your whole world turns upside-down because the real world didn't. It blows your mind and you don't know what your experiences will make you into. You feel like you're facing the quantum barriers of time, in the depths of hell – and if you break through that barrier…'

He charged up his Chronokinesis and exposed it to a nearby glass window. It smashed on contact.

'_That _is who I am.'

Athena was left speechless, her eyes widening wildly at what Matt just told her so seriously. The Anomaly was young – too young to have come out with something like that. Yet, he did. And Athena didn't know what to say.

Her eyes drifted back to the security screen and she could see Rhys was seconds away from completing the course.

'You're coming up to the finish, Rhys!' The Vault Hunter alerted him over the intercom. 'Almost there…and…_time!' _

Rhys ran through the exit to their left, stopping short of them and bending down to catch his breath. Sweat plastered his face and the hair stuck to his temples somewhat greasily.

'Four minutes, twenty-six seconds,' the Gladiator told him with an indiscernible expression, looking at the screen. 'Adequate.'

'What the…hell…happened?' The Corporate panted, gesturing tiredly towards the smashed glass at the opposite end of the room.

'It's…uh…nothing,' Matt assured him awkwardly.

'I'll get someone to clean it up later,' Athena added with a similar level of discomfort.

'Everything alright?' Rhys inquired confusedly.

'Yes, everything's fine, _corporal,' _she derided him annoyedly, frowning at his questioning. The Gladiator turned to Matt. 'You're up.' He moved towards the entrance but she stopped him. 'Ah, ah, _ah! _Coat: off.' He sighed, taking his long midnight-blue coat off and placing it on a nearby chair. He moved again, but Athena stopped him again. 'Not through that one.'

'What?'

'You just saw Rhys's _entire _course on surveillance,' she pointed out. 'If you go through it, you already know what's coming. From where I'm standing, that looks like an unfair advantage to me.'

'Yeah, that makes sense,' Matt agreed, ignoring the pompously confident smirks Rhys kept throwing his away. This wasn't a race, nor was it about winning or losing. Athena pointed towards another door, and Matt walked through it.

He saw a line of yellow tape down the hallway, which he surmised was the start line. It was a few centimetres away from a rather steep ramp heading downwards. The walls were wooden, presumably MDF, and the lights on the walls were small LEDs designed only to light the way adequately enough to see properly.

Matt winced when the sound of radio wave cacophony echoed through the structure, but it eventually softened to discernible speech.

'On your marks, get set, _go!' _

Instantly upon "go", the Anomaly charged down the ramp with his Double Anarchy in hand, almost losing his balance from the abrupt acceleration. At the bottom, there was a doorway, which led into a wide room with several spots for cover.

Several cut-outs popped up simultaneously, and Matt aimed his gun at all of them, checking if they were Gemini ones. Five of them were, and the remaining three were hostages. He shot down the Gemini ones as he moved and left the other ones.

The next room was narrower than the previous, with only enough space to move through the blocks of cover used for the cut-outs. As soon as he stepped through, the wood panels with pictures of Gemini personnel popped up, moving side to side on a reel.

_This would be a LOT faster with my Chronokinesis, _the Vault Hunter pondered. _But I suppose if I moved through the whole thing at super speed, these motion sensors wouldn't be able to detect me._

He continued to move through the training course.

* * *

Athena and Rhys watched as Matt manoeuvred through the complex with speed and efficiency.

'He's doing really well,' the Gladiator observed with no apparent emotion or tone in her voice.

'Mm,' Rhys grunted in agreement, not really paying attention to the screens. He wandered around the main room, trying to find something to occupy himself with.

'You should take notes,' Athena belittled him with a ridiculing smile, prompting him to sigh pointedly.

'I _know,'_ he grumbled. 'Matt's just _perfect.' _Athena sniggered at that.

'He wishes.'

'So what? You talk with him for a few minutes and suddenly you're an expert on him?'

'I can tell he knows more than he's letting on,' she commented with folded arms.

'More about what?'

'Everything. And anything. He's…different.'

'_Good_ different, or _bad _different?'

'I don't know,' Athena responded honestly, breathing out awkwardly.

Dissatisfied, Rhys's eyes drifted towards Matt's long midnight-blue coat. What kind of make was that? You couldn't find that in your average apparel shop, and he doubted it could be tailored for you either. Most of the ends of his coat were scuffed and marred with old stains of mud, dust, blood, hairs and other stuff that had failed to come off when he had washed it.

Slowly, he picked it up off the chair the Anomaly had previously rested it on. It was rough on the outside, but not too rough. Although, Rhys considered if it was safe enough to be wearing a coat that could give you a paper cut from rubbing the fabric for too long. It was a surprise to him when he felt the lining of the coat. It was silky and nice to hold, and likely kept the wearer warm, but not too warm, so that walking through hot temperatures would not be too overwhelming.

'What are you doing?' Athena demanded stridently, causing Rhys to wince and almost drop the coat. She bounded over to him angrily, snatching the coat from him.

'You wanna know someone's secrets? Search their pockets,' he reasoned vacillatingly. The Gladiator's eyes narrowed at him but reluctantly handed it back to him.

'For the record, I think this is a terrible idea.'

'But you're not stopping me.'

Athena didn't respond, so Rhys began searching through the first pocket of the coat, trying to find something of worth.

'How deep _is _this?!' He exclaimed, taking out something.

It was a health kit, complete with hypos and bandages. It was small and compact, but well-fitted. At least that explained how Matt was able to treat Fiona's gunshot wound so efficiently. Good thing he was prepared.

Intrigued, Rhys looked further and found something smoothly oval-shaped. Pulling it out, he examined a small thin Swiss army knife with worn, scratched maroon paint on the sides of the case. Fiddling with it, he accidently found one widget that digistructed a nozzle and handle into the knife, creating a spare gun. Somewhat afraid of the army knife now, the Corporate dedigistructed it and placed it back in the pocket.

'That looks _hundreds _of years old,' Athena realised, utterly bewildered.

'OK, maybe _another _pocket,' the Vault Hunter noted, finding another one to look through.

Eventually, Rhys produced an Amplifier Phone from one of the pockets, along with a lighter, an ECHO auxiliary cord and a few lock-picks.

'He really _is _prepared for everything,' Athena observed in surprise, looking closer at the stuff Rhys had fished out of Matt's boundlessly cavernous pockets.

'There's something square at the bottom,' he identified, leaning in to pluck it out. The Vault Hunter almost dropped it a few times, but eventually he acquired it. Perplexed, Rhys observed a small piece of paper that had yellowed almost entirely. Immediately, he began unfolding it, wondering what it was exactly. Both of their eyes widened at what it was.

On the piece of paper, there was a perfect pencil-drawn portrait of Gaige the Mechromancer. The likeness was stunning and the level of detail was astounding.

'What are you doing?' A voice demanded behind them, as an alert from the stopwatch beeped. Both of them turned around to see Matt, standing by the exit to the secondary training course, with his arms folded indignantly.

'It's, uh, not what it looks like!' The Corporate claimed, scrambling for an excuse.

'_Really?_ Because it _looks _like you're rummaging through my stuff!' Matt scorned them infuriatedly.

'Oh, then, um…it's _exactly _what it looks like,' Rhys admitted guiltily, picking at his nails awkwardly.

'It was him not me,' Athena justified herself.

'You didn't stop him, did you?!' He yelled at her, before realising the volume of his own voice and sighing loudly at himself. 'It's fine. But it would be nice if you wouldn't search through my things. We're allies, fellow Vault Hunters, we're supposed to trust each other.'

'I guess…just…what's this?' The Corporate asked, holding up the piece of paper with Gaige's face drawn on it. His sense of frustration suddenly reinvigorated, the Anomaly stomped over to him and snatched it out of his hands, although he was careful not to tear the old paper.

'It's a portrait, Rhys,' the Anomaly derided him. 'What do you _think _it is?'

'I can _see _that. What I meant was, why do you have it?' Rhys replied with equal annoyance.

'Why does he have a drawing of the love of his life? Yeah, _great _question, Rhys,' Athena cut in with a glare.

'Oh…um, sorry, I guess,' he apologised disingenuously, scratching the back of his head nervously.

'Well, _you _try spending four-hundred years away from someone you love,' Matt disparaged contemptuously, folding his arms annoyedly.

'Wait, _how _long?!' The Gladiator demanded, not sure she heard correctly. Matt shook his head and ignored her.

'Drawing her face was one of the only ways I could remember what she looked like.'

There was a tense silence between them, with Athena still processing the "four-hundred years" part of the conversation. Rhys considered his own actions for a moment, but dismissed it as him simply checking if Matt was trustworthy.

'Um, three minutes thirty-two seconds,' Athena read out loud. 'Excellent result.'

'What, no, he only did better because he did a different course!' Rhys wailed, glowering at the stopwatch time.

'Both courses were meticulously designed to be the exact same size and take the exact same time to finish,' the Gladiator told him categorically. 'Matt simply did better than you.'

The Corporate continued to grumble, but Athena ignored him.

'This was only the first stage of your training. You still have a way to go.'

She was right.

* * *

**Well, there we are. When I wrote this chapter some months ago, I remember really enjoying it. The cameo from Tiny Tina was fun, although it may have seemed slightly melodramatic, since her friendship with Matt was only presented through two chapters in the previous story.**

**Plus the Janey Springs and Athena duo was reams of fun. I love their couple, as well as the separate characters. They're great.**

**The last part of the puzzle of course is Gaige and Matt's relationship. It's gotten pretty tense between them, or at least distant. While it wasn't his fault he was gone so long, it still hurt. You can't just erase that pain; that's not how it works.**

**The next chapter, should I get around to posting it, will showcase Rhys and Matt having to work together to escape what the Anomaly finds oddly familiar…**


	9. Sub-Level Fifteen

**Yes. It's finally here. Is anyone still reading? (Lol.) With schools cancelled, that means I have a ton of free time. For whatever reason, I just come up with another idea for a story and forget about this one. Well, no longer. I bought and played Borderlands 3, and needless to say, I did not enjoy it.**

**However, I won't be ranting. I'm writing a separate non-canon one-shot about it, where Matt and Gaige take the piss out of the game for its major flaws. **

**The story continues with Karabraxis, where Rhys and Matt are training. However, _this _training is unorthodox. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**9: SUB-LEVEL FIFTEEN**

* * *

Various combat exercises droned on uninterrupted for the two, including military drills, strategy calisthenics, gym work, endurance testing, and the lot. Athena even had them play games of chess and risk, just to improve their strategic thinking and field awareness.

At one point, they had to run around the entire border of Karabraxis, which was about ten miles long. To add insult to injury, Athena ran with them, and if she outran either of them, both of them would have to do a second lap to compensate.

Matt was forced to help Rhys outrun their (relatively slow-moving) trainer, although the Corporate was reluctant to accept the Anomaly's help. Luckily, though, they succeeded despite their shortcomings, and didn't have to repeat the lap.

By the end of it, both of them were exhausted, as they sat down on a nearby bench, although Rhys was noticeably more fatigued than Matt.

'Tired?' Athena taunted them. 'Because you're not done yet.'

'We need a break,' Rhys complained, panting loudly.

'You don't get a break in a war,' the Gladiator disdained scathingly, folding her arms once again.

'We also can't fight if we're exhausted,' Matt pointed out, rubbing away the perspiration on his forehead. Athena sighed loudly.

'But what if we do it under the _express_ proviso that we both work _twice _as hard once our break is over?' The Corporate negotiated.

'_Fine,_ you can have a break,' she sanctioned unenthusiastically. Rhys began to celebrate and got up from the bench, but the Gladiator stopped him.

'You have thirty minutes and access to a bar, the Purple Skag, at the centre of town. Don't drink too much or you'll end up vomiting.'

'Oh, I have a fast metabolism,' Matt claimed coolly, looking towards the Corporate for his deliberation.

'Er, we'll be fine,' the Vault Hunter ultimately accepted, sighing internally.

Both of them made their way towards the bar Athena pointed to, hoping that the alcohol available wouldn't be too strong. No vodka or whiskey, certainly. Maybe a little bit of beer.

The room was sizeable but mostly empty. It seemed to have just been opened and it seemed to be slightly privatised. The bartender was cleaning a glass when they entered, her head moved up slightly to see them in her peripheral vision.

'You two must be the Vault Hunters Athena warned me was comin'!' The woman exclaimed, before looking up to address them. She frowned. 'Rhys?'

'Janey?' He recognised, a smile creeping across his face as they both approached the counter.

* * *

**Janey Springs**

_Part-time bartender; part-time trader; part-time mechanic…part-time everything._

* * *

'Athena didn't tell me _you _were here.'

'Nor did she tell me about you,' the Corporate responded. 'What are you doing here? Bartending isn't really your thing.'

'Ah, it's just something I do in my spare time,' she informed him. 'I still have the Springs New & Slightly Scavenged Goods – a few around Pandora and Elpis. It's a whole network chain!'

'Cool!' Rhys exclaimed. Janey's eyes eventually drifted to the taller, darker figure beside him.

'And who's your friend? Are you gonna introduce us?' She prompted excitedly.

'Right, um, this is Janey Springs, Athena's wife,' the Corporate introduced, causing Matt's eyes to light up.

'Ah, yes, it's nice to meet you!' He greeted, holding out a hand which Janey shook with equal enthusiasm. 'Athena mentioned you. Briefly.'

'And you are…?'

'Oh, right. I'm Matt. Matt Rye.'

'_The _Matt Rye?' Janey repeated sceptically. 'Matt Rye as in the Matt Rye with a statue in the centre of Sanctuary? Matt Rye who saved the entire universe? _That _Matt Rye?'

'Yes!' The Anomaly ensured her. Janey looked for Rhys for confirmation, and he reluctantly nodded.

'Shouldn't you be dead?' Springs recalled.

'I wasn't dead, I was in another dimension,' he informed her, causing her to frown in confusion. 'Long story. Anyway, I'm here. And I'd like a beer.'

'Uh, me too,' Rhys added.

'Yeah, yeah, of course!' She accepted, moving to find the beer tap.

Once they received their beers, the two Vault Hunters gave their thanks and collapsed onto the adjacent chairs, resting their feet on a nearby coffee table comfortably.

'If you don't mind me asking, how did you become a Vault Hunter, Rhys?' The Anomaly asked, taking a deep mouthful of the beer. Rhys merely laughed.

'_Long _story.'

'Long break.'

Rhys supposed it couldn't hurt to share details, especially since Matt had been transparent about his past when they first met. Not to mention Fiona would probably tell him anyway, since the Anomaly was practically her idol.

Slowly, he began to divulge how he got from Helios to the Vault of the Traveller, and then to Sanctuary. He spoke about how he and his best friend Vaughn descended down from Helios to Pandora to buy an alleged Vault Key from willing traders – Fiona and Sasha. Rhys went on to describe the Handsome Jack AI created by Nakayama, which was implanted in his ECHOeye and stuck there, as well as the Gortys core, and their journey to Helios again to bring it crashing down to Pandora.

Matt only spoke at one moment.

'Scooter…_died?'_ He realised all too late.

'He died so we would make it to Helios,' the Corporate disclosed guiltily.

'Oh, I…I didn't know,' the Anomaly told him. 'You know what's funny? I went to him to build a rocket too, once.'

'Really? When?'

'Back when Gaige was kidnapped by Gemini. Around four years ago.'

It didn't take too long before Rhys got to the part with the Traveller. With Gortys being forced to land the Vault on Pandora, Rhys and his friends had to fight the Traveller. For once, Matt looked genuinely impressed with him, when he spoke about the giant mech that Gortys turned into, and how Rhys used his wit to defeat the Traveller.

'What about you?' He asked the Anomaly, before raising his voice to address Matt's immediate confusion. 'You said how you became half-Siren, and the Vault of the Dreamer, but you never really outlined how you got from A to B.'

'You want my entire life story?' Matt guessed comically, raising an eyebrow.

'Anything that seems relevant,' he abridged with a gulp of beer.

Matt nodded, and began to divulge the details of _his _life – or at least, the main parts. He mused over the details of his childhood, although only a few things – like the story of how he and Amelia found a small forest out in the far stretches of Krolantia. Briefly, the Anomaly covered his time with the KMO, although there wasn't much to talk about to begin with anyway. Rhys was surprised by the haplessness of the KMO, desperately scrambling to gain some sort of reputation. In reality, it was comprised of legion of fools and untrained idiots running a battalion of heavily-trained soldiers who weren't allowed to have an opinion. And of course, the detonation of the first anti-matter bomb could not go amiss either. The Anomaly had witnessed that moment near the end of the Third Darosian Civil War, when the Krolantian Military Order had mobilised on the Consolidation Dominion and wiped them out in one fell swoop.

It was hard to get to the part with Amelia's murder. He had already met Gemini at that point, and had begun working for them, but he still lived in Acropolis. But his parents didn't want him anywhere near them after that Hyperion assassin sent by Hyperion, in compliance with Commander Sharp, murdered her.

Of course, meeting Aurora definitely improved his attitude on life, since he was _very _depressed at the time. His sister was dead, and the only family he'd ever known had banished him. Luckily, that woman always managed to make him feel better. No wonder they were best friends. He could always count on her – both as a friend and during missions.

Leaving Gemini had been a difficult decision for Matt. Gemini had offered him solace and purpose at the lowest point in his life, when he thought no one else could. More importantly, though, it meant he would be leaving Aurora, which made it one of the hardest decisions of his life.

Aurora had been so angry with him for leaving. He remembered the way she looked at him: like he had become some kind of monster.

Seeds of distrust had sprouted in the Anomaly's mind about Gemini ever since the Genisys Project. Their abject refusal to pay the supposed ransom for Matt's return was one of the things he thought of. Mainly though, he had begun to suspect that Gemini had ill-intentions with the Vault they were looking for.

That's how he ended up on Pandora, looking for a Vault that no one else could apparently find.

Then he met Gaige.

Matt knew she was beautiful from the second he saw her – bloody, injured and limping. When he cleaned up her injury, and the Mechromancer washed herself, she only ended up looking prettier.

However, it was her personality that enticed the Anomaly, more so than her looks. Aurora was objectively beautiful too, yet he never fell in love with her. Claiming Gaige was quirky would be an understatement. She was simply fun to be around, and made Matt laugh and crack jokes way more often than he perhaps should. Not to mention her intelligence. Gaige was incredibly intelligent, so Matt knew he could rely on her to get them out of sticky situations. Her tech smarts were a major help in Lima Base One, _and _she helped lead Sanctuary when Matt was thought dead – the first time.

He remembered when he helped her out with Deathtrap. Gaige had been so happy when her gyro-jets were replaced with superior Gemini-based aero-jets. Happy times. It made him wish he didn't have to leave. If he had stayed behind, their relationship wouldn't seem as distant now.

Gaige being kidnapped was a turning point for Matt.

He gained this bloodlust that he'd never experienced before – a drive to murder in the most painful way possible. Desperately, the Anomaly needed something to kill, so it was convenient when hundreds of faceless Gemini soldiers attempted to stop him.

However, bloodlust wasn't something particular to Matt, although killing was never difficult for him. Violent murder felt different though, like torture – which was something Matt honestly couldn't bring himself to ever really do.

'What was the Vault like for you?' Rhys asked him with slight drunkenness.

'Fighting the Dreamer was an experience like no other,' the Anomaly described. 'I remember the moment it dropped into the arena – it was darkness incarnate. I couldn't even distinguish its features: it was just a black moss with eyes. Somewhat, it was like all the shadows in the world had combined into one singular form. It sucked out all the light and left endless darkness – like the dark spots on ancient video footage. Those gold eyes were haunting, especially now that Amelia laid behind them. There was something so chilling about being stared at like that.

'And being inside that gigantic arena…it made me feel so small. I was more than just myself, I was part of something greater: the Infinite.' He shook his head to escape his reverie. 'Oh, I dunno. Maybe you had to be there. It's less thrilling when it's inactive.'

'Perhaps,' Rhys shrugged. 'It's a crazy world, we live in.'

'Truest thing I've heard all day,' Matt admitted. 'Nowadays, it's a struggle for some peace and serenity, and with a war on the horizon, I doubt that's ever going to change.'

'It's always busy for us. Not a dull moment, though.'

Matt laughed.

'It's a far cry from the bore of the Acropolis leisure hive. No wonder Amelia was always so anxious to leave. She always never knew what to do with herself, to be honest. Maybe she'll figure that out here.'

'People struggle to find purpose here. Not everyone _wants _to be a soldier, and while the Raiders offer lots of jobs, no one really knows what to do. Not even me.'

'Have you found purpose now?' He catechised interestedly.

'As a Vault Hunter, yeah,' Rhys answered. 'I may not be the most physical able, but it's more my words that I rely on. I like to be the negotiator.'

'Well, you negotiated this break we're having,' Matt concurred happily. 'I'm not overly physically able, either. Nor do I rely on my Chronokinesis to get myself out of sticky situations. Sometimes, simply speaking is best. Words are superior to guns; the pen is mightier than the sword.'

'Aren't you supposed to be the guy who can do anything?' Rhys asked him derogatorily. 'Like, perfect in every way?'

'No. To both questions,' he told him firmly, with another sip of his beer. 'Even if I _could _do anything, a jack of all trades is a master of none. And as for perfect – well, _don't _make me laugh. Gaige was kidnapped because of me, and _also, I _led the Vault Hunters into a trap to save her, I let them get captured _and _I left Sanctuary vulnerable to attack. There's also not forget it was my fault Amelia was shot in the head and killed. Perfect laughs in my face.'

'OK, but then why does Lilith drone on about how amazing you are?'

'Because she doesn't want everyone to forget me, maybe? Perhaps she adulated me so much because, in the end, everyone gets forgotten. Lilith is my Siren sister; it's all about family to her.'

'While they're idolising _you_, no one ever notices _me_!' Rhys suddenly yelled, making Springs jump. Matt opened his mouth to speak, but the Corporate stopped him. 'Lemme make this _completely_ clear: I don't like you. I only tolerate you. I don't like you because I don't see what everyone else see in you – this amazing _light, _like you're the world's saviour.

'What's so anomalous about the Anomaly? You seem fairly ordinary in personality to me, yet everyone venerates you and looks up to you. You even got _Fiona _idolising you. _Fiona! _She doesn't idolise _anyone! _Yet she looks up to you as her ideal Vault Hunter. Maybe _that's _what's so strange about you – your ability to make everyone adore you! Well, it _won't _work on _me!' _

'Is everythin' alright over 'ere?' Janey inquired to them concernedly, worry forming in her eyes.

'Everything's _fine,_ Janey,' Matt insured her with a smile, taking one last gulp of his beer. 'Rhys is just a bit…overactive from the beer. Thanks for asking, though.'

'Alright, if you say so. Just no fights, OK?' Springs necessitated politely.

'You got it,' he replied with another smile. Janey went back to cleaning the top of her bar desk. Eventually, Matt turned back to Rhys.

'What?' The Corporate derided. 'You gonna tell me to revere you like everyone else?'

'I don't ask people to do _any _of that,' he argued. 'It's not _my_ fault if they do. And to be honest, I don't _want _to be idolised. All that does is set up some ridiculous reputation of me that I can't possibly uphold. And if…_when_ I don't live up to that reputation? People get _pissed. _They're _already _pissed at me for "leaving", you think me not being as good as they've been told is going to help? I don't _expect _people to like me, either. Nor will I demand that you do. You have your opinion and that's fine. But if you're going to angry at _me _for what _other people_ have done in my absence, then you're incredibly misguided.'

'You're telling me they didn't do it for a reason?' Rhys argued.

'_Of course _they did it for a reason. But that reason is not _my _fault. You don't blame the king for the faults of the court jester, now do you?'

'So, I'm a court jester, now?'

'_No!' _Matt exclaimed, sighing in pure frustration.

It was at that moment, Athena stepped into the Purple Skag, unbeknownst to her two trainees. She saw them talking, evidently in a heated discussion, going by their facial expressions. Briefly, Athena considered intervening, before deciding not to, since that would probably make the whole situation worse. She walked over to greet her wife, with a smile uncharacteristic to her personality, and leant against the bar top.

'How you doing? The training going alright?' Springs asked her thoughtfully.

'It's…an experience,' she supposed, shrugging slightly. 'They're great on their own merits, but they can't seem to work together.'

'I can see that,' Janey retorted. 'They've been at it for a while. First it was just small talk, then _boom:_ it was a series of arguments and insults.'

'It's not my problem,' Athena claimed dubiously, folding her arms at them.

'They're _your _trainees – it _is _your problem!' Springs pointed out, folding her arms with equal intensity.

'I'm not here to hold their hands through whatever issues they might have,' the Gladiator countered.

'You said you wanted them to work together,' she disputed. Athena opened her mouth to argue, but sighed when she realised she had no counterargument.

'Fine,' she grumbled, straightening her posture off the desk and walking over to the two (still arguing) Vault Hunters. 'Alright rookies, break's over.'

'But it's only been fifteen minutes!' Rhys protested avidly. 'You said half an hour!'

'I lied,' Athena scathed disparagingly. 'Now get up. We need to sort out whatever problems you two have with each other.'

'That would be _lovely,'_ Matt replied, shooting exasperated looks towards his fellow trainee. 'What are you having us doing?'

'I need you to _work together,'_ the Gladiator ordered them dogmatically.

'Me? Work with him? No chance. I don't want to _infringe_ on his reputation,' the Corporate objected immediately.

'For the _last _time: I don't _want _a "reputation"!' The Anomaly groaned.

'Both of you: shut it!' Athena roared at them, silencing them instantly. 'Follow me. I'm taking you somewhere you might learn to cooperate.'

Reluctantly, both of them stood up as Athena began to walk towards the door. Matt gave Springs a nod and a thanks for the drinks before leaving. Rhys stuck his hands in his pockets and sighed to himself while Athena led them out of the Purple Skag.

The city was quieter at night, both of them suddenly discerned.

They had spent hours training, and once they finished, they were both too exhausted to notice. Crickets chirped in the background from no discernible source, and shadows enveloped the brunt of the buildings into sinister colours.

Looking up, Matt could see the stars in the night sky sparkly brightly, not tainted by light pollution but almost completely swallowed up by an dense overgrowth of infinitely germinating abyss.

'Where are we going, Athena?' Rhys moaned.

'The Citadel,' she responded, causing him to stumble over his own feet.

'The Citadel?!' He exclaimed in disbelief. 'How come you're taking us there? Most of time we're not even _allowed _to go there!'

'What's the Citadel?' The Anomaly inquired bemusedly, shaking his head in confusion.

'The Citadel is the central tower in Karabraxis,' Athena told him. 'Generally, it's used by the Braxiatel Council to manage city operations.'

'Yeah, and it's built on top of an intact ancient burial ground, so it's also a religious centre,' the Corporate added quickly.

'Exactly,' the Gladiator responded with a smile.

'Wait, you mean that's where we're going?' Matt figured out instantly. 'To an ancient burial ground? How's that supposed to help with our teamwork?'

'You'll see.' Her smirk stretched from ear to ear.

* * *

Amelia stared at the Artefact as it sat on the scanner table, following the lines of Infinite energy coursing through it. It was staring right back at her, taunting her to reach closer to interact with it. Every so often, the energy would momentarily brighten, as if it were winking at her.

Matt wouldn't want her touch it. And Amelia was required to serve under the Anomaly. He didn't exercise that right often, but it was still a crutch.

But Matt never specified. So Amelia had free will about this. Probably. Maybe. It was so unclear to decide; unfortunately, it could just boil down to a technicality – and Eridians _loved _technicalities.

Being tied to someone else's soul wasn't comfortable or inviting.

However, Amelia knew the Artefact could have its uses, despite the risks. The potential result nulled the jeopardies anyway.

Which is why, when the Artefact stared at her, Amelia stared back.

_Maybe I can use it to –_

'You alright?' Someone asked her. Instinctively, the woman spun around to see Gaige standing by the doorway.

'Yeah, yeah, I'm…I'm _peachy,'_ she stuttered wearily.

'Me too,' Gaige responded with equal cynicism. 'Me too.' She folded her arms and sat down on the chair beside her with a loud, exasperated sigh.

'What is it?' Amelia asked her concernedly.

'Nothing. It's…nothing.'

'It's about Matt, isn't it?' She surmised with a furrowed brow. Gaige looked up at her in surprise and, upon a squinting, oddly misplaced shame.

'How'd you know?' The Mechromancer inquired shamefully.

'You and me both,' Amelia admitted. 'Going through a rough patch, huh?' Gaige didn't respond, but instantly nodded slightly with a hung head. After a few seconds, the Vault Hunter finally opened her mouth to reply.

'I was _so _happy when he came back, and I still am,' she insisted, although whether that was to herself or to her, Amelia didn't know. 'But I can't hide the way I feel. I love him, but I'm not sure if I do as much as I used to. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but I can't help but feel _cut off _from him – like we're not as connected as we used to be. He doesn't make me feel so…_excited _like he used to. Maybe that's just me.'

'Ironic,' Amelia somewhat sniggered.

'How do you mean?'

'While you want to feel connected with Matt again, _I _can't get free of him,' she replied, before holding up her hand to stop Gaige from asking what she meant. 'I have a connection with Matt that I can't break. When he gave me a body, out of his own DNA, he had to use some complex Infinite science to do it. Long story short, I'm bound to him in an unbreakable covenant. As long as he lives, I live. So I have to do what he says. I've avoided telling him what the Enlightener did in the Vault, but as soon as he gets back, he's going to want to know. And there's nothing I can do about it.'

'You want to be independent from him?' Gaige simplified.

'Yes. But I don't know how.' The Mechromancer looked sympathetic, but Amelia waved at her dismissively. 'I dunno. Maybe it's not so bad. But you – your problems with Matt are more plausibly amendable.'

'How?' The Vault Hunter inquired, intrigued. Amelia gave a nostalgic smile.

'Just ask him about the drawing.'

'What drawing?'

Amelia only responded with a snigger.

'Wait and see.'

* * *

The Citadel towered over Matt with immense magnificence, stretching up at least a mile and disappearing into the dark night sky.

Most of it was constructed from dark reflective metal, with series of glass sheeted windows on each side of the hexagonal building. Many of the metal panels were placed in layers, many of which were noticeable, since the top layers didn't completely cover the lower ones. It looked considerably less boring than it would if it were flat.

Furthermore, the scale of the building was accentuated by the various statues standing evenly on ledges of stone jutting out from the central building, all at various heights. Upon closer inspection, Matt could see they were evenly placed, and were designed to look like angels.

Athena approached the guard at the door, who prompted her to place her finger on the fingerprint sensor. It scanned her, before a brain scan was performed in under a microsecond. Eventually, a green light flashed on the system interface, and the old, maroon door slid open automatically.

As all three of them entered, they were greeted by a large room with a marble floor and old-fashioned tail flags hanging vertically with the Vault symbol emblazoned on them in gold.

'Athena, you_ know _you're not allowed up to the Council Room, so please stop asking,' the man standing at the reception told her pointedly.

'I'm not here for that,' she told him. 'I have authorisation to access Sub-Level Fifteen.'

'But that's the burial ground excavation site!' he recognised. 'Why would you want to go to there?'

'For a…_unique…_method of training,' the Gladiator responded dubiously. He looked at her perplexedly, but Athena ignored the prompt for elaboration and instead showed him her security credentials. Reluctantly, the receptionist nodded and pressed a few buttons on the control panel below him.

There was a ding and the elevator to their right authorised them to use it. As they approached it, the doors slid open to reveal an ornate elevator compartment, with a marbled floor and a faux-wood frame. Athena hastily pressed a button that had "-15" imprinted on a glass button. It lit up white when she pressed it. The doors closed.

Matt watched patiently as the red digital text above the doors slowly decreased by one, until it finally reached Sub-Level Fifteen.

Athena stepped forward out of the elevator and put her hand on a handprint scanner on a metal wall in a small compartment that was obstructing their view of the burial ground. The door slid open to reveal Sub-Level Fifteen in its entirety.

All three of them stepped out into the excavation site. The walls and ceiling was comprised of stone, live a cave system, but was held up by Pobranium-Titanium Carbide scaffolding and supports. It was a small tunnel, which tapered inwards towards the burial site itself.

Forming a small path to follow, the main path was sparsely lit with small lamps. Eventually, they converged to illuminated a large bricked structure of old stone. The entranced looked like it was made by default, rather than intentionally. It was merely a gap between the large stone slabs.

'I don't understand, Athena,' Rhys complained, investigating every detail of the cave. 'Why are we–'

He was interrupted by the sound of metal slamming together and locking. Both of them spun around to see the door they had come through was shut tight, with Athena nowhere in sight. Matt went over to the door and banged on it to catch her attention.

'What the hell, Athena?!' He demanded. 'How are we supposed to get out?'

'There's another exit at another end of the tomb,' the Gladiator informed them, muffled through the metal.

'We don't know how big this tomb is!' Rhys argued. 'We could be here for _hours _trying to find a way out!'

'Exactly. You two need to learn how to work together,' she insisted.

'Don't you think this is a _little _extreme?!' The Anomaly protested.

'Yes,' the Vault Hunter answered bluntly. 'See you on the other side.'

'_Athena!' _Rhys yelled, only to be met with silence. He turned around, leant on the door, and sighed emphatically with crossed arms. Reluctantly, he turned to his fellow Vault Hunter. 'So what do we do now?'

'Only one option,' the Anomaly replied, giving him a knowing look. Rhys immediately knew what he meant.

'No. _Definitely _not. We are _not _going through _there! _It's old, and winding, and full of cobwebs and _spiders _–'

'Got any other ideas?' Matt cut him off tauntingly. Rhys failed to provide a response. He walked towards the entrance, and prudently stepped onto the smooth stone. After impatiently fidgeting, the Corporate gave in and followed after him.

'Have you got a flashlight?' He inquired, trying to see through the darkness. The chasm was only lit by the odd torch here and there. Matt paused and fumbled through his pockets, before finding one and activating it, revealing the path. 'Of _course _you do.'

'So…it's nice that Athena switched sides,' Matt addressed awkwardly.

'Uh, yeah, well it wasn't easy,' he replied reluctantly. 'Lilith was incredibly disliking of her since she used to be part of the Crimson Lance, however once she proved herself, she accepted her. They even became friends.'

'Yeah, I heard that she funded her wedding,' Matt commented absentmindedly.

'Athena didn't want her to, but Lilith insisted.'

An awkward silence ensued between once again, filling the void of the dark tomb they were wandering through. Matt stared at the walls, trying to figure out exactly where they were going.

'So how'd you end up in Sanctuary?' The Anomaly asked curiously.

'Long story, but Fiona and I entered a Vault – the Vault of the Traveller. We touched this chest thing and we were teleported to _another _Vault. It was like an arena or something, surrounded by a void of Infinite energy.'

Matt nearly choked on the air.

'You mean the Vault of the _Dreamer?!'_

'I think so, yeah. What of it?' Rhys wondered bemusedly.

'The Vault of the Dreamer disappeared completely into the Infinite after all the Vault Hunters left. It only reappeared because I came back. It shouldn't have come back any sooner.'

'I guess the Vault of the Traveller must've brought it back. I mean, it disappeared once we left.'

A great deal of relief washed over Matt once he heard that.

'Good.'

'Why's it so important?'

'Prolonged exposure to foreign matter causes Infinite energy to dissipate into the dimension it comes from. There's a chance it will react with the Dark energy that permeates said dimension. And Infinite energy and Dark energy do _not _mix.'

'Shouldn't you have thought about that _before_ you brought the Vault _back _into this dimension?' The Corporate criticised.

'I _did,'_ Matt ensured him. 'Amelia and I would absorb the Infinite energy instantly upon entering, and the rest would be non-volatile energy sealed inside the Vault. Now, most of my efforts were _pointless._'

'It's not _my _fault!' He argued rightfully.

'I know,' Matt sighed. 'Sometimes I wish I _hadn't _gone into the Infinite. Then other times, I'm glad I _did._'

'Am I supposed to feel sorry for you?' The Corporate derided him coldly.

'No,' he admitted. 'Do you ever feel like everything you've done up to this point is worthless?' Rhys sighed depressively.

'Yes,' the Vault Hunter confessed. 'I've spent four years trying to build up a better reputation for myself. Many can't see past the fact that I'm ex-Hyperion. I get a lot of shit for it. Even after I've saved Raiders' lives several times, aided them on missions, helped take down Hyperion and stopped several of their schemes, most of them still don't trust me.'

'That's some bullshit.'

'Tell me about it!' He paused. Was he actually having a friendly conversation with Matt?! 'It's not like _you _would know about bad reputation, anyway.'

'Actually I do,' the Anomaly contradicted. 'My parents disowned me after my sister died, so you can figure out their opinion of me. But more pressingly, most of the governments on Darios took a distrustful disliking towards Gemini. They, accurately, claimed they were "scheming corporate thieves" – not that I listened to them at the time. So when they found out I joined the corporation, pretty much everyone began to hate me. I proved I hadn't changed, but Darosians are very stubborn…' He frowned. '…_Were.'_

'I still can't believe they disowned you.'

'Grief can drive people to do the worst of things. That includes banishing your son who had to watch his sister be murdered right in front of him and was ridden with PTSD.'

'But when you put it _that _way…'

'Well, of course I'm still mad at my mother, but Gaige was right. I don't forgive her actions, I just accept her place with the Raiders.'

'What about your dad?'

'I don't want to see him. At least Deborah had the decency to come looking for me to apologise. Nicholas is _far _too austere to do _that._'

Rhys was about to respond, but he felt his foot descend into the ground and lock into place. He froze in fear. Matt spun around, having heard the sound of air escaping from locks.

'I think I just stepped on a pressure plate…' the Corporate recognised nervously, his eyes widened in fear. Matt inspected it carefully under the white light. He observed that the tiles around the pressure plate were loose. They shook when pressed in on them.

'Hmm…' He mumbled, tapping the plate.

'What is it?' Rhys asked nervously but coherently, trying to sound calm. He wasn't very good at it.

'When I knock it, it makes a different noise than the others.' He knocked on another nearby plate to show the difference.

'Well this place _is _old.'

'Yeah, except when you realise that it's also pressure plate, it's clearly for a major reason,' Matt surmised.

'Meaning…?'

'Don't panic, but I _think _that this tile is supposed to slide away when you lift off your foot, probably leading to a long fall.'

'A _fall?!' _The Corporate panicked.

'Try to breathe a bit. Don't worry, I can get you out of it.'

'Can't you use your powers?'

'I tried,' the Anomaly confessed, showing him his hand. He activated his Chronokinesis, except only black lightning crackled from it. 'I'm not producing red Infinite energy. That's the end of the Infinity Spectrum that allows me to control the timestream. This black energy is meant to give me a performance boost, except right now it's doing nothing since I'm not _using _it for anything.'

'How come you can't use your powers?' The Corporate enquired confusedly.

'Dunno, but I'd hazard a guess it's something to do with this burial ground,' he presumed. 'It's disrupting my connection to the Infinite.'

'So for now I'm relying on your technical expertise?' Rhys surmised.

'Well, I wouldn't call it "expertise", but yes.'

'That doesn't make me feel better.'

'Hmm…' the Vault Hunter thought aloud, 'the best thing I can do is delay the cog wheel so it sets a tenth of a second slower than usual. That should give you enough time, otherwise the panel would sense your shift in weight distribution before you can even jump.'

'Are you sure about this?'

'No.'

'_Great.'_

'Look, when I call, I need you to jump out of the way,' Matt ordered him. 'Alright?'

'Alright.'

The Anomaly charged his Chronokinesis, summoning his black lightning from his fingertips. He directed it carefully through the cogs and gears he had uncovered, it moved through and interacted with the cogs.

'N-' He began, but he was interrupted.

There was a rush of air escaping the cogs, and Matt saw the cogs absorb the energy. Abruptly, the panel slid away, before Rhys could move even a millimetre, and he fell.

The Anomaly, completely shocked, moved as quickly as he could, summoning as much power as possible. He grew more relieved as time slowed around him, albeit not by much. Immediately, he grabbed Rhys, a fraction of a second before he fell out of reach, and pulled him out and onto safer ground.

Both of them lay on the floor, breathing vociferous sighs of relief.

'What the _hell?!' _Rhys demanded irreverently. 'You said I'd have enough time to get out the way!'

'I _know _what I said,' Matt replied annoyedly, sighing to himself again more pointedly. 'I-I don't know what happened. It was like it…' Standing back up, his face fell to a much more serious expression.

'Like it _what?'_ The Corporate prompted.

'It _recognised _Infinite energy,' the Anomaly realised. 'And there's only _one_ known species that developed technology that could harness energy from the Infinite. _Eridians_.' Rhys's eyes widened.

* * *

**You know, making Matt famous was… ahem, not the greatest idea. Sorry if it's a bit cringe when everyone meets him, but I'm trying to use this to show how everything has changed and Matt doesn't fit in so well.**

**For lack of a better word, he's an anomaly. Just in a different way. **

**Anyway, I'm trying to post more of these, once it catches up to my most recent chapter I wrote. Then, I'll try to get on from there. There's so many ideas I have for this story, I really don't wanna end up never writing them.**

**That non-canon one-shot will come sometime after the next chapter. It'll be a separate fic. Just a bit of fun.**


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